Souls
by Mr Selfish
Summary: This story follows the journey of several undead, as they struggle with their inner selves, their sanity, and hollowfication.
1. Author's note

The world of Dark Souls is much more expansive than people think, the game itself teaches players to analyze lore from a perspective that has never been done before (or has rarely been done). Players examine text on items, observe the environment, and take heed to the warnings of the non-playable characters of the universe. Time in Lordran is distorted, and planes of existence cross over each other, overlapping in the constant and seemingly confusing mess that is Dark Souls. I would like you to pay close attention to the details in the story, just as you did when you played the game for the very first time.


	2. Chapter 1 - Beginning

A knight awakens by a bonfire, slain by the hollows that roam through the woods… killing anything in sight. The knight is used to this though, and he shrugs the death off as he did his last, always looking forward to improvement. The man clad in nothing but the most elite armor from his far away country, Astora, stands to roam the darkness of the surrounding forest yet again, eager to improve his skills. Though it wasn't always like this… In life the now brave Sir Lance was a cowardly farmer, he knew what it was like to work hard and strive for something, undeath was the beginning of his adventure and it was here where he would find his true purpose. While wandering, a shiver went up the knights spine... he could not describe it, but he felt as if he was not alone anymore, as if he was surrounded by something other than the hollow husks that wandered the forest. _Blood. _An orb of darkness quickly approached the knight as he raised his shield, slamming against it with heavy force. Some of the darkness reached the knights skin and brought with it unbearable pain. The knight opened his mouth as if to scream - but nothing came out. The dark figure stepped out of the shadows, the mask on its' face displayed a single bloody tear drop under the right eye socket. He held a dark talisman in his hand, with strong resemblance to a voodoo doll. Lance had heard of this type of dark magic before… hexes, the dark nature of this "miracle" haunted the knight's memory from childhood stories and rumors, but he had never actually seen, or felt it, until now.

"Hello there friend, may I interest you in a duel?"

Lance did not say a word, he simply couldn't. He gave a nod of disapproval.

"Well that's all right, then. We can wait."

Within minutes another undead appeared seemingly out of no where, covered in a dark robe and a hood that concealed her face, with a silver rapier in hand, words came out of the darkness.

"Jeff, the duelist. I've heard about you… but what are the chances that I would run into a lunatic like yourself. I only hunt criminals, not petty duelists. Justice will not fall upon you this day."

"Ah, Fiora, the lightning blade. What an honor it is to meet you! I would love to duel you, as Sir Has-No-Tongue over here is ill-prepared and weak. Please allow me the privilege of a fight."

"Very well, duelist, but I only fight until the death."

Behind his mask, Jeff has a smile brighter than the one he had the day he died.


	3. Chapter 2 - Humanity

As the man finally came to his senses, he stared down upon the body of what appeared to be a fat blonde clergyman. He remembers that he had been brought, by way of giant crow, to this land and went on a rampage until _that _happened. Running into these black sprites that other undead called "Humanity", the hollowed husk devoured it. Now coming out of his hollowed self, the almost completely naked man came to his senses… but he wanted more. The feeling that was brought upon him when he devoured the substance was that of ecstasy, one he wanted to feel again. He walked up to the bonfire in Firelink Shrine and took the chain mail off of the dead Crestfallen Warrior.

With new sword and armor in hand, he climbed up a flight of stairs, following his senses to his ultimate goal. _Humanity. _Hollow after hollow charged the newly revitalized man, but all were dealt with easily. Stabbing, slashing, and clashing maniacally through a newly discovered burg of undead, he came upon a crazed fellow, not hollow, but confused. He couldn't help but notice the eastern sword that this undead held, and he did as his instincts told him to do… he took it, along with the "life" of the undead, with a new sword in hand, the man moved through the burg with more ease, slicing through hollow after hollow.

He came upon a bridge. _Observe. _Two hollow archers stood awaiting anyone foolish enough to walk across the bridge and the feeling of an evil presence surrounded the swordsman. He frenzied across the bridge, dodging the hail of arrows released by the hollows just above him. A gigantic Taurus Demon, with a size comparable to three tall men, came crashing down on the opposing side of the bridge… that is, opposing to the archers, as the swordsman was already behind the demon. The demon swung his hammer around to meet the threat, but the swordsman was already under him, slicing both femoral arteries. Blood spewed from the demon, and it came crashing down to it's knees. Just a small moment later, the head of the demon fell to the ground as the eastern sword cut through its' neck.

The man shadowed through the hallways ahead of him, coming upon a balcony where a knight covered in iron stood, observing the incandescent sun. An eastern blade ran straight through the knights black, and the wielder did not hesitate to finish the job and before the knight could stand he was already slain. _Humanity. _The sun reflected off of the iron armor worn by this now slain Warrior of Sunlight as a pool of blood formed under his body.


	4. Chapter 3 - Politics

The knight reached for his Estus Flask and took a sip, its' bright liquid filled his body as he recovered from the burns that were gifted to him by a lunatic. He could only watch as two figures fought each other in the of darkness. Black orbs were unleashed from the dark talisman wielded by the duelist, but all were dodged by the justicar with ease. The trees and earth hit by the darkness withered away. Holding the talisman in the air, a dark fog surrounded the duelist… and just as the justicar saw this, she was moving, charging towards the darkness and ready to combat her enemy. Stabbing her rapier into the dark, the clash of metal could be heard echoing from the darkness, she had been parried by a target shield. A leg appeared out of the darkness and delivered a swift kick to the woman's stomach and sent her flying out of the fog. Laughter burst from the darkness as it disappeared, revealing the man inside.

"Do you think this is a joke? My honor has been challenged by your stupid duel, and you make a mockery of me?"

The robed figure pulled out a candle, and the smile behind the mask of the duelist shrouded in black leather disappeared. _Lightning. _The candle flickered above the justicar's blade as golden electricity surrounded the rapier, hungry for its' new opponent. _Darkness. _Her leg disappeared in an instant, devoured by the orb of darkness that was fired at her from a distance. Sir Lance watched in horror as the woman screamed in agony. She disappeared from sight and it was over.

"Well, she needs to work on maybe applying her enchantments before the enemy notices her, she may be called the lightning blade but she sure was slow!" The duelist chuckled.

The knight stood in pure disbelief. The duelist walked to the bonfire, and motioned for the knight to follow him. The knight stumbled forward.

"So, you're mute… but I assume you aren't stupid. How many years ago did you die?

The knight held up three fingers.

"Three years ago?"

The knight nodded in disagreement.

"Oh my, three months… weeks… days or whatever-ago? Well then, since you haven't been given an introduction to this land, and to the undeath, I

have the honor of giving it to you!"


	5. Chapter 4 - Power

The swordsman stares into the lower undead burg, examining his enemy. The Blade of the Darkmoon had been tracking the madman ever since he killed the clergyman, and this is the first time that they had actually encountered him. The Blade wasted no time, in an instant it wove the talisman over its' weapon as magic fluttered from the Bolder side sword. The blade charged the swordsman, who strategically attacked from atop the staircase, slicing through the shoulder of his foe. With sword arm still in tact, the side sword was driven deep into the swordsman's chest, as he screamed in agony magic ran through his body, burning him from the inside out. The swordsman stabbed through the blade, and himself, and pulled his eastern sword out of both him and his opponent. The blade dropped to the floor, and within a few seconds its' body had vanished, along with its' magical sword that was stuck inside of the mans' chest. With estus in hand, the swordsman could hear his next victim.

"Somebody! Please, let me out of here! Somebody, anybody! Help me! Unlock the door! …Damn…I'm finished…How did this ever happen…"

The figure in chain mail busted through the wooden door into the house, and charged the sorcerer. The sorcerer raised his catalyst to defend himself, but he was too late. The swordsman stabbed, sliced, and chopped with ferocity until his opponent was no longer recognizable as humanoid. _Humanity. _

The metallic covered man wandered into the depths, he had defeated his opponents with ease until now… and he was about to get a grand gift. Stuck inside of a barrel, A hooded man called out to the swordsman to save him, explaining that he was a pyromancer from the Great Swamp. But he did not get any salvation this day… just the taste of a sword from the east. The swordsman observed the newly slain pyromancer, and took the pyromancy flame from his dead corpse. _Power._


	6. Chapter 5 - Introduction

The duelist and the knight sat around the only source of light in the dark forest, conversing about the movement of the world.

"When the last of the God's disappeared and the Ancient Lord was succeeded, a few covenants vanished and a few appeared." Stated the duelist.

"This short list includes the Brotherhood of Blood, the Way of the Blue, the Sentinels of Blue, some fanatic sun worshipers, and some guys that like to guard ancient bells."

The knight seemed a little puzzled, obviously wanting further information.

"Well, the Brotherhood kills for their god, Nahr Alma, the god of war. The Way of the Blue keep to themselves most of the time but will occasionally answer the call to fight against invaders. The flashy blade Fiora was a Sentinel, and the Warriors of Sunlight are the friendliest people you will ever meet in your un-life."

The knight thought about this, and as quickly as the duelist had appeared, he vanished… leaving the metal-cladded figure alone.

Standing up, the knight once again wandered into the forest, training his skills against hollows and wildmen. Once again, the cold grasped him. An unnerving presence could be felt from a great distance. _Dodge. _It was too late, the arrows pierced the knights legs and he was pinned down. Another made its' way into his shoulder, his first reaction was to pull the arrows out… the barbed arrows. Blood sprayed out of the three wounds, the knight was doomed. In the distance a shadowy figure could be seen, preparing the last arrow...

Magic arrows zipped past the knights head, striking the figure in the distance as it released a scream and vanished. A sorcerer walked up and offered his hand to Sir Lance.

"Hello there ol' chap, Sorcerer Nagol of the Dragon School at your service. That was a bloody good time over yonder wasn't it?"

The knight was stunned, in the course of one day he has met so many maniacs, then darkness overtook the knight, the yells of the sorcerer could be heard, but were fading slowly.


	7. Chapter 6 - Defeat

The swordsman paused in front of the giant half spider, half beautiful woman on fire. Truly amazed how the power of the Soul of Life could transform a being into something so… disturbing. The demon launched lava out of its' mouth, as to stop the swordsman from advancing too close to it. At the same time the upper half of the being slashed in seemingly unstoppable fury at the undead. He could not find an opening, he lifted his left hand and fire was summoned forward, traveling towards the demon.

The smoke cleared, the demon smiling and still in-tact. Never before had the swordsman faced an enemy as powerful as this. _Strike. _The opening was noticed, both by the swordsman and by the demon… the leg of the beast was struck, but powerful magic bursted from the center of the demon, and darkness took over the swordsman.

The process was repeated, over and over again. Every time the swordsman grew more and more hollow. It took over.

The hollow wandered out of Blight town, defeated… powerless. The thirst for humanity had returned in full force, and the hollow felt a pull towards the lost city, the dead city.


	8. Chapter 7 - Sentinel

The Knight woke up from his long slumber, surrounded by three companions. A robed figure with a rapier, a sorcerer who loved to talk, and the all too familiar bonfire.

"Ey, our ol' chap is awake! Boyo we've been standing watch over you for three days."

"Oh shut up, it's only been an hour."

The sorcerer laughed, "I know, but did you see how surprised he was for a second there!"

The knight looked at the sorcerer, then at the justicar. He was actually able to see her face, pale skin dotted with the darkness that were her eyes. He observed the sorcerer again, a reddish man who wore a brown robe and donned a hood over most of his face, magic did not need to be aimed… not with sight anyways.

"Are you going to talk to us, or just sit there asshole?"

"I think he's a mute Fiora!"

The knight could only nod.

The justicar's face grew even paler with guilt… "Sorry, this land has turned my heart cold."

"It's quite all right, Fiora here is part of the Sentinels of the Blue while I work with the Way of the Blue. The Sentinels wage an all out bloody war against the Brotherhood of Blood while we casually lend a hand here and there."

"We defend undead who deserve to be defended. We don't care for scum who commit crime and sin."

All three undead could sense it. Coming closer one step at a time to the bonfire.

"Hello there friends!"

The words appeared out of the darkness about as fast as the duelist appeared.

"You, I'll rip you apart for what you did to me you bastard!"

The justicar was already charging the duelist, but a wall of flame shot out of a pyromancer's staff and blocked her path.


	9. Chapter 8 - Hunger

The hollow stood, face to face with fear itself. The darkwraith observed its' newly found prey, but turned away from it as there was no humanity sensed inside of the newly formed hollow… the feeling was not mutual. The darkwraith thrived with humanity, and the hollow was upon him in an instant. Covered in flames, it fell, and the hollow feasted.

The swordsman lurked down the dark staircase. Staring down into the Abyss that lay below him. _Jump. _He lept into the darkness, embracing it.

What the Abyss let out that day was no longer a man, let alone a regular undead. The darkwraith stepped off of the elevator, a skull mask worn over his face, he eyed his prey. A knight from Carim, covered in gold. He turned to view the dark figure approaching him, standing up to combat this new threat. But the darkwraiths right hand was already in the knight's stomach, the humanity was drained from the knight as the darkwraith burned the remaining hollow to ashes with his corrupted black flames.

A young priestess sat praying in the clearing next to Firelink Shrine. Her two body guards ready for anything. Anything except the rain of fire that was to ensue shorty. Quickly they were reduced to ashes and scrap metal. The priestess was alone and defenseless. Her vision faded and her spirit broke. With the means and the will to obtain more humanity, the darkwraith set forth upon Lordran like a curse.


	10. Chapter 9 - War

"I'll gut ye and use your blood to swab the poopdeck, wench!"

Sir Lance watched the female pyromancer… pirate… taunt the justicar and prepare a fireball. She was a strong looking woman wearing leather armor: blond hair, pink skin, short and full of hatred. The knight had seen so many lunatics that day that he was not phased by how weird this was.

Lightning was already crackling from the silver rapier, the justicar charged the pyromancer but was deflected by the target shield of the duelist.

"I'll destroy all of you damned murderers!" The justicar cried as she charged the pyromancer again, this time backed by the sorcerer who was unleashing magical arrows from his catalyst.

The pyromancer threw the fireball, covering the entire area in flame… a dark fog surrounded the area, and orbs moved forth, devouring the magical arrows and continuing forward. The sorcerer summoned a magical greatsword and slammed it into the encroaching darkness, banishing the orbs.

The justicar thrust her sword into the pyromancer's exposed back, the pain draining consciousness from it's new hearth. The pyromancer fell to the floor, unmoving and not breathing.

The duelist charged forward, sending a dark orb into Fiora's right arm, completely devouring it. A scream followed immediately after…

"God damnit, not again!"

Jeff threw a healing stone onto the "corpse" of the undead, and she started to move slowly. Stumbling to her feat.

"Ye damn bastard… you'll pay a hefty price for what ye did to me!"

The justicar was already on the floor, defenseless as the pyromancer wandered up to her, catalyst in hand.

The magical duel ensued between Jeff and Nogal, darkness and magic flying back and forth, the battle seemed to destroy all of the magician's surroundings. Sir Lance could not help but hide behind a giant stone as he watched the duo fight. Jeff surrounded himself in a dark fog and the sorcerer called upon a hail of soul arrows to bombard the fog from above. _Victory. _ A grand dark orb flew out of the darkness, but was blocked by the power of the sorcerers catalyst, knocking him back into the giant stone… and knocking him unconscious.

"What a spectacular fight!" The Brotherhood of Blood member threw another healing stone onto the sorcerer, and shook his hand as he stood up.

Meanwhile, the pyromancer prepared what would be her final spell against the wretch that had stabbed her in the back - literally - and she was ready to deliver it. The justicar lay on the floor, seemingly defenseless… but with her left hand and the sacred candle in tow, she sent a prayer to the gods that restored her strength, and her arm, to original perfection. She darted at the pyromancer, who unleashed a great fireball… darkness took over both of the women's senses.


	11. Chapter 10 - Invasion

The darkwraith stood examining at his newly acquired Red Eye Orb. He had been told that he may use it to pillage the humanity of undead… any _time, _any _place. _He activated its' power…

The adventurer braved through the city of Anor Londo, Zweihander in hand and protected by Giants Armor, he charged three silver knights and deflected their blows with ease before slashing with his great weapon and eliminating all three. Though, everything seemed to stop, all was quiet… and the darkwraith stepped out of the shadows.

This battle was to take place in a small room, a bonfire in the corner. The adventurer charged the darkwraith, slamming his great weapon into the wall… he had been dodged. The darkwraith saw this mistake and punished his adversary for it, dark fire quickly surrounded the heavily armored fool. But this was not the end, the adventurer raised his weapon for what would be a killing blow… but the darkwraith got to him first…

Right hand inside of the adventurers stomach, dropping his weapon from above his head… the only sound heard was the crashing of the great Zweihander as it hit the stone ground. The darkwraith surrounded the newly formed husk in dark flame and prepared for his next victim…

**Any ****_time, _****any ****_place._**


	12. Chapter 11 - Darkness

Three warriors sat around a bonfire, re-telling the epic battle that had just taken place - among themselves. Sir Lance watched from a few feet away, still stunned that these people who had just been enemies just an hour ago were now allies. Well, that was the popular belief… there was one who leaned against a rock, rapier hidden away, but still in hand.

"How could you sit there with those _things _and be jolly, Nogal!"

"Wot? Oh come on Fiora, we're having a bloody good time, yah? It's not like anyone got hurt."

Fiora stomped up to the bonfire, clearly enraged… "Jeff the idiot took my arm from me and I was almost burned to a husk by the crazy pirate woman! I would call that severe injury."

"Yar, but ye healed yourself all up didn't ye? If ye be fine now, then how can it be called an injury… aye?

"This isn't the time to talk about philosophy! I'm leaving… this damned forest, I'm sorry Sir Knight, but I will protect you no further!"

Fiora turned to leave the group, just as the right hand of a darkwraith entered the body of Jeff, the duelist...


	13. Chapter 12 - Destruction

**Hey guys, I've replaced Chapter 1 - Awakening with the prologue to this story... to clear some of the confusion up... or confuse you even more. I felt that Awakening wasn't too relevant to the story progression and that it was a good place to stick the prologue. This chapter concludes the first story arc, and the future is full of character expansion, invasions, and more jolly cooperation! As always I'm always up for suggestions and criticisms, please don't hold back anything! I'm always looking forward to improving my writing style, looking for ways to do this or that better etc... P.S. Sorry for killing Solaire off so early and easily, don't expect mercy for any of the characters in the story.**

* * *

The darkwraith burns the remains of the lifeless husk that was Jeff the Duelist, a pile of ashes formed on the spot where he sat, a mask with a bloody tear drop under the right socket rests on top of it. The darkwraith looks up at the remaining four warriors, who are already standing and ready to fight, but shaken with fear…

"What the hell is that thing!" Fiora turned around and screamed.

"It's a darkwraith… but no one has seen a darkwraith in hundreds, or maybe even thousands of years!" explained Nogal.

Sir Lance fell to his knees, never before has he seen anything as terrifying as this. One of his comrades had been destroyed before his eyes, incinerated like he was nothing. His journey was about to come to an end, and he had only just started it.

Victoria, the pyromancer immediately attacked the darkwraith with a flurry of combustion and fireball attacks, but the darkwraith was too fast and dodged every one. Nogal caught the foe with two soul arrows into the its' chest, stunning him briefly, generating enough time for Fiora to stab the foe in the back with her lightning infused rapier… _Victory._

The three warriors stood around the seemingly slain foe, puzzled that an enigma like this was in this far away time… this far away land.

The darkwraith rose, slamming his left hand into the ground… darkness enveloped the group as flames rose from the earth incinerating everything. Sir Lance watched, too weak to do anything. The darkwraith approached him. _Flee. _The knight let his instincts take over, and he was already moving, the darkwraith not far behind him. Running through packs of hollows and other abominations in the dark forest, Sir Lance came upon a clearing that shone light into the center. Darkness surrounded the clearing and a bright, golden set of letters was visible on a stone.

-Kor, Barbarian-

_Touch._

Sir Lance reached for the sign, and as he touched it the golden aura grew brighter and a warrior, clad in steel armor from an eastern land, surrounded by a golden bright aura and with a smile on his face appeared before the knight and spoke,

"Hello, friend. How can this warrior of sunlight help you?"

The darkwraith entered the clearing and paused, observing his new foes. At that moment, the barbarian knew what he had been summoned for. The darkwraith charged the new golden foe, extending his right arm as to penetrate the chest of the divine being in an attempt to leech it's humanity. The barbarian deflected the attack with the power of the wrath of the gods, throwing the darkwraith into a tree. The darkwraith rose and attacked again, this time throwing black fire at his enemy. The barbarian stepped backwards to avoid the attack, and an orb of force appeared between both his hands, the darkwraith observed the incoming threat in confusion. The orb was launched from the barbarian at the darkwraith with incredible speed, knocking the darkwraith into the tree he had previously become acquainted with.

"Go back to the dark, you foul beast!" yelled Kor, the Barbarian.

The darkwraith relentlessly rose, his hunger was taking over. Kor rose his right arm to the sky and a lightning spear formed at his fingertips, the darkwraith charged him, but was not faster than a bolt of lightning.

The darkwraith woke up near the bonfire in firelink shrine, and howled at the sky… _defeated._

In the clearing, Kor approached Sir Lance.

"Well friend, your problem is solved… but why didn't you defend yourself, from fear comes courage, harness it!"

Sir Lance could only shrug.

"Ah, you can't speak as well! I'll tell you what, how about I take you under my wing, show you the ropes… teach you how to fight. I'm sure you would have fun with that."

The knight stared at the barbarian, all was silent in the clearing. He would have never thought fighting could be fun at all, solely a means to defend oneself. But he nodded, as he needed the experience and training, he knew he was weak… but he wanted to become stronger, no, he _needed _to become stronger.

"Then it's settled, praise the sun!"


	14. Victoria, Chapter 1 - Spark

The pyromancer woke up in a prison-like cell, iron bars lay between her and the bonfire in the center of the room, which illuminated the surrounding area. In addition to hers, there were eight other cells, all surrounding the bonfire, all had other undead in them. She observed the others… one warmed himself with a fire which he held in his hand, another was a dragonoid being sleeping in the corner of his cell.

_Escape._

Victoria panicked, she reached for her catalyst, but did not feel anything… she was powerless.

"Woh there, calm down…" a voice from one of the cells soothed the confused pyromancer.

A sorcerer with a strange big hat sat in one of the cells opposite of hers.

"Where am I? Who be the bastards that put me here?" scoffed the pyromacer.

The sorcerer replied, "You are in Fort Ruin, Carim… the owners of the fortress use strange magics to pull undead from far away lands… and times… to the bonfire in front of us. Then, before they are able to wake up they are stripped of everything and thrown into these cells.

The pyromancer looked down, she noticed that she wasn't wearing anything…

"How is it that ye have that fancy hat, then?"

The sorcerer replied, "Well, they make us fight each other… the winner of this skirmish receives whatever they desire, within reasonable means of what can be granted."

Victoria thought to herself. Fight each other? How was she supposed to fight against the rest of these undead… without her pyromancy? She again looked at the sleeping dragonoid resting in the dark cell on the opposite side of the fire…

"When do we fight each other, then? Tomorrow, aye?"

In reply, the sorcerer frowned… "Actually, they were waiting for the last undead to wake up… you."

With that said the sound of metal and stone clanging and crashing against each other could be heard, the earth shook around the small prison and the bonfire went out…_darkness… _and then Victoria heard it, the cheering… thousands of people cheering, awaiting the slaughter that was to occur. The prison rose into the arena, multiple guards ran up to each cell, opening and chaining the prisoners to the floor. Those who resisted were ferociously beaten, Victoria allowed the guards to chain her down in pure disgust. She observed her surroundings… a completely flat, sand arena… there was only a small doorway out, which she assumed was for the guards to enter and exit through. A guard put a blindfold over her eyes, disabling her vision, but she heard an annoying voice from the crowd.

"Ladies and gentlemen today we are here to witness another great fight to the death… our last winner, Logan the Sorcerer took the win with his powerful magic and a stroke of luck. To which we granted him his hat! Remember fighters, you will find freedom in death!"

The crowed cheered at the stupid comment, Victoria was mad… the rage was boiling her blood as she thought about strangling the owner of the voice.

"Let the games begin!"

And with that the chains and blindfold that impaired the pyromancer disappeared, and she could see the other fighters quickly bouncing to their feet. Weapons loitered the arena, sticking out of the sand, anything ranging from swords to axes and even spears. Victoria noticed Logan running to the far side of the circular arena, right to a catalyst! In the distance, Victoria also observed the dragonoid breathing fire onto another undead, leaving ash where the undead should have been. The scene was absolute madness, other undead grabbing anything they could find and charging each other… like savages…

Victoria spotted a catalyst in the distance and sprinted for it, another pyromancer lobbed a fireball in her direction, but she dodged it with ease. Though she was surprised that this person had used pyromancy from his hand. Victoria looked in the direction of the catalyst again… _Damn..._

The pyromancer awoke in her cell, a familiar bonfire in the middle of the room. In the cells opposing hers, sat Logan, the dragonoid, and the pyromancer. Logan noticed that Victoria was awake and spoke.

"I am terribly sorry about that, I really wanted to get the rest of my clothes back, and you were one of the more exposed targets on the field."

The next moment Victoria was already squeezing the rusted iron bars between her and the voice… the voice that she already hated…

"Ye bastard! I will incinerate ye the next time we go into that damned arena, just ye wait…"

And with that Victoria turned around to stare at the wall… she couldn't stand to look at that damned sorcerer anymore, at anyone anymore. She basked in her hatred for everything.

Hours, maybe days… a week? The amount of time that the undead waited seemed to last two lifetimes. Victoria still sat, staring at the same wall…

When an undead is plagued with inactivity, its' humanity begins to slip away… some try to keep their minds occupied, while others search for humanity where they are able to find it. An undead in a cell can't do much to combat the hollowing process. Victoria was slipping away, and she felt it. It was only her hatred for everything that kept her sane, bound to this world. She wanted to destroy her opponents, and she would… oh, she would.

A familiar noise was heard in the walls, the earth began to shake again. The bonfire went out in usual fashion and the roar of a thousand souls could be heard outside. Everything was muffled, Victoria seemed to escape from reality, she didn't even hear the guards coming, she didn't see anything. There was no light, no annoying voice… all that was left, was darkness.


	15. Victoria, Chapter 2 - Flame

The newly formed hollow that was once Victoria the pyromancer stood up as the chains that tied it down vanished into thin air. It was night, the moon shined upon the arena and torches surrounding the arena revealed a thousand roaring souls. The other fighters scrambled for their usual weapons - the hollow reached for the catalyst that was right in front of it… like a gift from the heavens. _Fire. _

Flames burst from the weapon, directed at the closest undead. Logan turned to meet the new foe with the breath of a crystal dragon, but it clashed with the flames of the hollow, fueled by a burning hatred that would not stop for anything but the destruction of the sorcerer. The dragonoid turned to the hollow and belched flame onto it… but the hollow stood in the same spot, obvious perspiration surrounded the being. The male pyromancer sent a surge of flame from his hand at the hollow, but it failed as well. The hollow slammed its' catalyst against the floor and fire surged from the earth, incinerating the trio who surrounded it. The remaining undead were devoured by the flames of hatred produced by the hollow. A familiar voice called out.

"Ladies and gentlemen, our champion of the arena… the pyromancer!"

The crowed roared with excitement! Never before had they seen a single undead wipe out every other one in the arena single handedly.

The hollow stood still, with no facial expression… no movement… no thought.

"And what is it that you, champion, want granted to you by this noble of Carim?"

The hollow moved its' mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out.

"I'm sorry, I didn't quite hear that, quiet down everyone, please!"

The hollow slowly looked up at the noble, its' face was still blank. Only one word escaped from its' grasp. One that would strike fear into the crowd… and into the citizens of Carim…

_Death._

The fireball was heading towards the noble's location, guards scrambled into the arena to combat the new threat, people panicked and tried to escape from the stands as they trampled all over each other. One by one and two by two the guards were destroyed. Fire broke into the stands, devouring hundreds of souls at a time. Flame erupted the arena, and for the first time in a while Carim would know true fear.

The hollow made her way for the small door that led to the exit of the arena, upon entering, it examined the room full of different armor, weapons, trinkets… and its' clothes. Its' clothes! The hollow hurried to its' old clothes as tears began to fall from its' eyes.

Victoria hugged her old clothes and snapped back to her senses, her humanity restored. She quickly put them on and replaced her current catalyst with _her _catalyst. She raced through the hallways to the exit. Upon making her way to the streets of Carim she noticed the chaos, flames were spreading from the arena through the city, people were grabbing buckets of water to combat them while others fled from their homes. Houses burned and collapsed on top of citizens and the flames quickly spread.

Who… or what could have done something like this? Victoria thought to herself as she made her way to safety. Victoria moved a great distance away from the city, hearing the call of a bonfire. Like a moth, fluttering towards a flame she was attracted to it. Perched atop a forgotten tower on a hill overlooking Carim, she could see the whole city in flames. The only sanctuary was the great castle of Carim, completely surrounded by stone and its' gates shut to its' own people. Masses still moved around the city, like ants fleeing for their lives. Victoria was overwhelmed with exhaustion, she found a pile of hay suitable enough to sleep on and let darkness overcome her.


	16. Nogal, Chapter 1 - Essence

"Oh come on, just one book! You bloody snake men are going to be the hollow of me before I know it… I just want to read!"

The sorcerer complained as he had been for the past couple of minutes to the snake men who seemed to be getting madder and madder at him every single time he did. _Drat. _Thought the sorcerer, he had failed in his endeavours again. He did not know where he was, but from what he could make out he was in a crystal infested library… and prison bars were in between him and unlimited knowledge!

The sound of a struggle could be heard from below Nogal, it would seem that some hollows had gotten into a fight. The snake men guarding his cell, and the surrounding ones all rushed down the stairs to watch the hollows tear each other limb by limb, some even cheered in excitement! A soothing voice was heard in the cell next to Nogal's.

"Excuse me, do you know where we are? I'm afraid… one moment I'm in Boletaria with my guardian, Garl Vinland, and the next I was pulled away here. Please, help me."

The sorcerer observed his surroundings.

"Well, by the looks of it we are in the ancient library of Seath the Scaleless, the bloody dragon who destroyed all the other bloody dragons. I'm not sure how to get out of here… but these bars seem fairly weak, if I had a catalyst I could probably destroy them with my magic!"

The voice replied, "Oh that's wonderful! We may be saved at last… tell me, what is your name?"

"Well malady I'm Nogal, from the dragon school of Vinheim. And who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" Nogal extended his hand out of his cage as to shake his neighbor's in an exchange of friendship. The maiden reached out to meet his and replied.

"I am Maiden Astraea, it is wonderful to meet such a nice person in a time like this."

The guards returned to their posts as the fighting came to an end… Astraea... Boletaria… Nogal thought to himself. Where had he heard this name before? A study in his school while he was learning how to cast basic spells? Maybe it was from an old nursery rhyme used to make sure kids did the right thing? He couldn't quite put his finger on it, and didn't really bother with the thought for too long… the books on the far end of the wall called to him!

Nogal sat, then he stood, then he paced. What could he possibly do to get out of this damned cage! He thought and thought. And it came to him.

A hollow covered in crystal and chained to a wall from the wrists eyed Nogal as he paced around the room, they made eye contact. A smile spread across the sorcerers face as he approached the undead husk. As Nogal did this, he could hear another struggle between hollows above him, again the snake men rushed to meet the excitement. He broke the chain off and the hollow immediately went to grab him… but it wasn't fast enough. Nogal surrounded two of the bars with the chain and pulled with all his might… but it didn't seem to work… strength wasn't one of his strong points. He looked at the hollow who repeatedly stuck his arm out at Nogal. _Genius. _Nogal threw the chain to the hollow who maniacally grabbed it, starting to pull. Nogal helped the hollow by adding what little strength he had and the bars shattered. Nogal stuck his head out and smiled out the beautiful maiden.

"Hello there my lady, would you like to escape today?"

The maiden blushed as a smile formed across her face, she nodded. Nogal quickly ran down the flight of stairs, he didn't have much time. He frantically looked around for a catalyst, but he could only find a crystal dagger. It will have to do, he thought. Grabbing the dagger, he realized that he is not alone… One of the snake men had noticed him, and shot lightning from his fingertips at the sorcerer. The sorcerer dodged easily enough, and charged the snake man, dagger in hand. The foe prepared all four of the flamberges held in his four hands all ready to strike the sorcerer. Nogal picked a book up and threw it at the being, which slashed at it ferociously… leaving it wide open. Nogal circled his opponent, and drove the dagger into its' back. He examined its' corpse, noticing a set of keys. After grabbing the keys and running for his cell, he realized that it would no longer be safe because of the broken bars, he would be caught. He ran up to the maiden's cell, opening it and closing it swiftly. He then locked the two of them inside and waited.

"Why did you do that, we could have escaped!?" She exclaimed.

"Well, the only way out of this place is up… and unless you want to end up as one of the dragons failed experiments, you need to bite your tongue for a second!"

The two sat in silence as the snake men returned to their posts, examining the cell with the broken bars, the dead body of a comrade on the bottom floor, and a half chained up hollow against a wall with a chain clutched in its' hand. They were extremely confused, but took the hollow out of the cage and disappeared up the staircase.

It was the first time that the sorcerer had actually really seen, and paid attention to the maiden, she was beautiful, her pale skin, blue eyes, and curly blonde hair protruded from her white robe. Nogal had also observed his surroundings while he was outside and learned more about his situation. He explained to the maiden that they were in an enclosed, circular building with many more cells on each floor - there being around five floors, they were on the fourth - with snake men at every post. The only way out was to climb a tall ladder that led to a door which he now had the keys to… or at least thought he had the keys to, and make their way out. The maiden hugged her savior and the both of them couldn't help but blush.

Same old situation, different hollows. The two began to fight, like savages fighting for a mate. Snake men rushed to view the situation, guard after guard passed Nogal's new cell as he counted. One snake, two snakes… seven snakes. He felt that all the guards had made their way down and he was good to go, opening the door the two made a sprint up the gigantic round staircase and to the fifth floor. As they were about to reach the ladder, a guard was about to get off of it… Nogal decided that he would help the snake out, stabbing it in the back so it would fall off and reach the ground faster.

"Ladies first!"

The two climbed up the ladder - the maiden was wearing white underwear - Nogal couldn't help but smile. They reached the top and Nogal prayed that he had the right key… sliding it into the door, it magically opened! The two bolted out of the prison onto a balcony, the light blinding them for a second… but they didn't care, freedom was within their grasp! The two followed the balcony into a great library, one that Nogal had never seen before! Books surrounded a gigantic room filled with… more books! The sorcerer about fainted from all the excitement. The room was empty, un-disturbed by time or other living beings. It seemed strange at the time that a place like this would be empty, but Nogal paid no mind.

"Where shall I start first? Shall I find the lost crystal magic… or maybe I should read some of the great stories Adgar Ellen."

The maiden stood, the smile that was on her face disappeared.

"I know that we are free… but how will I get home?"

The sorcerer paused… he had completely forgotten that his companion existed for a moment there. He explained, "Don't worry, all of the knowledge that has ever been known is here in this library, we will find a way for you to go home!"

With this, the two merrily started searching the grand library.


	17. Nogal, Chapter 2 - Crystal

Who knows how much time the two had spent digging through the library, Nogal didn't care. His passion for knowledge, magic, and books kept him healthy and sane. He strove to read each and every book the library had to offer, learning new magics and reading new stories. He would often try to replicate the magics with a catalyst the he found, some were successful, a lot more ended horribly for him. Fortunately, Maiden Astraea was there to heal his wounds, as she was a skilled cleric. One day, Nogal's curiosity led him to ask the maiden a peculiar question.

"M'lady, how is it that you haven't hollowed yet? Most of the time you spend your days staring into the bonfire or out the balcony at the crystal golems playing in the massive grassy yard."

Astraea looked at the sorcerer, confused.

"Hollow, what is that?" The words struck the sorcerer from an angel that he could have never spotted if it was right in front of him!

"Well, you _are_ undead aren't you!? How else could you have survived for this long without any nourishment what-so-ever and still look like a goddess!? It's a little bloody weird if you ask me."

The maiden laughed and joked as she turned away to stare into the courtyard again, "Well, maybe I'm a ghost!"

The words hit the sorcerer harder than the great Iron Tarkus was able to strike the great Iron Golem so many years in the past. _Ghost. _Nogal did not want to believe it… but all of the evidence was there, right in front of him. He needed to know, he had to find out what this enigma was. It was in his nature.

In the corner of the library lied a group of old and dusty tomes. The light seemed like it barely touched this area of the maze that was the Dukes Archives. A magical channeler pointed Nogal to this area… after the sorcerer had displayed his magical superiority to these beings they had worked for him ever since… and Nogal did as he loved doing, he read.

Nothing could be found, book after book he could not find an explanation on what, or who the maiden was. But in the very corner of the last bookshelf, a red book with a gold wreath seemingly stamped on the front cover lied, dormant… un-touched. The sorcerer reached for the book and blew the dust off… the title read, _Nursery Rhymes that will make your child behave! _Nogal opened the book to the table of contents which was organized by kingdoms, and thought to himself. Where is she from? Bowl of truffles, wait… what? Bole… Boletaria! His finger landed on the page… nineteen.

He opened the passage, and it read the following.

_Children who are naughty beware,_

_for in the valley of defilement lies a lair,_

_of a demon so sick and disgusting,_

_that is takes upon a form most trusting,_

_the maiden roams the land so loving,_

_beware… Astraea is coming._

A chill was sent up the sorcerers spine… demon? The maiden Astraea couldn't be a demon… she was just a defenseless woman! He turned to see the maiden in a different section of the library, one he had visited before… a section of love novels and heros. He stared at her, then at the book. He decided to flip the page which displayed an illustration. _It looked exactly like her._

What should he do? What _could _he do? Should he approach her directly… maybe blow her up with magic? Should he try talking to her? Nogal was confused and worried about his unlife! A channeler approached him, and he had to ask it for advice.

"You there, friend. If I wanted to get rid of a bloody… insane demon-ghost from the past, what would I have to do?"

The channeler looked at the sorcerer, then at the books above. It grabbed a blue tinted book and gave it to the sorcerer. Nogal glanced at the book and nodded as the channeler went about his business. Nogal did as he loved doing… with a long drawn out sigh, he read.


	18. Nogal, Chapter 3 - Soul

_Knowledge is power._

The words ran rampant in Nogal's head as he stared into the courtyard, thinking about the book he just read… thinking about Astraea. What had been revealed to him was something that he would not want to bestow upon anyone, no matter how sick the crime was. He thought of contacting an old friend for advice, perhaps Fiora, maybe even Jeff… how about that hot-headed pirate? Remembering that they had been obliterated and were probably stuck in a situation similar to his, he sighed. It was a cold, rainy day, and Nogal did not feel like reading.

Maiden Astraea approached the sorcerer and leaned on the rail of the balcony beside him.

"This is strange, usually you are reading through old dusty books or sleeping. I think this is the first time I've seen you on this balcony."

The sorcerer turned around to meet the maiden, arms still resting on the rail.

"Well, I came upon something strange…" Before he could answer he was interrupted by maiden Astraea's lips. She backed away from the sorcerer.

"I've also been… having strange feelings. How would you react if I told you that I wanted to bear your child?"

The sorcerer's skin paled… he remembered what he read in that cursed red book. He gulped.

"Astraea… have you heard of the valley of defilement?"

The maiden stared into the sorcerer's eyes, she slowly backed away from the balcony.

"You… how…"

A tear of blood ran down her left eye and her skin grew paler. The being smiled.

"You think you're so clever? I almost had your soul the easy way, but I guess now I will just have to take it from you!"

The demon reached for its' talisman and maniacally laughed as force erupted from it, sending the sorcerer off of the balcony. The sorcerer fell on to a pile of mud, it broke his fall but he drank a sip of estus from his flask just in case. He could hear no sounds except the rain… crystal golems looked upon him, but did not move from their spots. The demon landed close to Nogal, preparing its' next spell. Nogal reacted quickly, he summoned a mass of crystal soul arrows that guided themselves straight to the demon. The spell was reflected back to the sorcerer as another wall of force was cast, forcing the sorcerer to dodge his own attack.

The demon taunted Nogal, "Your magic is powerless against me! Just give me your soul all ready."

Nogal tried again, he threw spell after spell at the demon, but the results were the same… he was getting more and more tired, and after trying to cleave the foe with a soul greatsword spell, the force of the very wrath of the gods knocked him into the mud again. He stared at the sky and sighed. Well, it's either me… or_ that_.

The demon approached the sorcerer, ready to deliver the final blow. Nogal stood up, he reached into his pocket slowly and pulled out a peculiar item. The demon stopped and stared in confusion.

"You plan to kill me with… a dried finger?"

Nogal crushed the finger, magical dust flew into the air… it became abnormally cold. The demon looked around itself, nothing seemed to be affected. Nogal was already making a mad dash for the ladder that was just behind him… he climbed as fast as he could and made it into the library. With the pull of a lever, the staircase he had just used was now the floor under his feet, there was no way up from the courtyard. The demon looked at the sorcerer who was on the balcony… and taunted him.

"Coward! I will eventually find a way into the library, and when I do…"

The dark figure appeared on the other side of the courtyard, near the farthest wall opposite to the balcony. The crystal golems moved away from the site, in fear of what was about to occur. Nogal watched as this event took place in front of him… the demon turned around to see the threat approaching it as Nogal blasted the wooden ladder leading up to the library with magic. The demon was trapped… and for the first time in what seemed like an eternity, it was scared.

"What the hell is that thing…?"

The darkwraith slowly approached it's new prey… the aura that the demon gave off was new, it did not posses humanity, but another power that the darkwraith could use. It charged the demon, but was deflected as the wrath of the gods forced it back. The darkwraith had plenty experience with this type of magic as it charged again, paying attention to the hand motions of its' opponent. The darkwraith stepped back for a short moment, then continued forward, right arm extended. The life from the being slowly drained into the darkwraith… it could feel the power of the demon.

Disgusted, Nogal quickly lifted his staff and with it, unleashed the breath of the great crystal dragon, banishing both the demon and the darkwraith into the darkness. Alone, Nogal sat by the bonfire… maybe he should make his way back to Vinheim, he had read what he wanted to read in the Dukes Archives. He thought, then smiled.

_Knowledge is power._


	19. Jeff, Chapter 1 - Artorias

Jeff arose from a dark tunnel covered in roots to find a clearing, the golden light from the sun illuminated the area which was covered in puddles of water, reflecting the sun to make the landscape shine with brilliance. Trees surrounded the clearing making it impossible to leave except for a single opening on the left side of the area. The duelist donned the typical Brotherhood of Blood uniform, protected by black leather and a mask with a single bloody tear running down the right eye socket. Typically the weapons that a member used generated their nickname in the organization, because of his choice of target shield and talisman, he was named _the duelist. _Jeff observed his surroundings just a little more as he felt that circular areas in the past had all led to fights with very large monsters or demons… so why would this time be different?

As Jeff walked to the exit on the left, staying against the wall as to cover a weak spot, he heard it… the terrible screech of a manticore, which landed in the middle of the arena. It let out a roar that could be heard from miles away. The duelist sighed, preparing his dark hexes in order to fight the newly found beast. Holding up his talisman, he fired out an orb of darkness, which was surprisingly dodged by his foe. The foe continued to fly above Jeff and bombard him with lightning, forcing its' prey into the middle of the arena. The duelist waited for the next attack to come first, the manticore charged him as to impale him with his horns but the duelist dodged _below _the monster. He let loose darkness from under the beast as its' insides poured out of the black hole that used to be its' stomach. Jeff was a little angry.

"Damn beast! You got blood all over me. How am I going to get these stains out?"

Jeff made his way for the exit, which opened into a large forest area. A bridge separated him from the larger portion of the forest, his side had a bonfire and a giant mushroom attached to a tree while on the other side he could see masses of scarecrows and stone golems wielding very, very big axes. The mushroom turned to Jeff as to speak, sensing something abnormal within him.

"Traveler, are you not from this time?"

Jeff turned to the mushroom, "Well, that depends… where exactly am I?

The mushroom tilted its' head to the left, "Well, you are in the land of Oolacile."

The being expected Jeff to act differently, maybe even surprised. But no, the duelist just stood there, weapons stowed… thinking.

"Never heard of it."

The enigma was struck! Never before had anyone displayed such _ignorance__! _

"How the hell do I get out of here?"

The mushroom was stunned! This youth had single-handedly disrespected her land, and now her time! It exclaimed,

"Young warrior, the Abyss has started to devour this land… it is only a matter of time before its' champions invade the other kingdoms on this world and bring upon an age of darkness."

Jeff looked at the confused beast. He was from a land, where the age of darkness exists. Undead run rampant through cities, its' disease more common that any plague that the world had ever known. It was a dark age, but he thrived in it. With that last warning, he continued across the bridge, making his way past magical beings by madly dashing by. Most of them were too slow to catch up to him, he found it a little entertaining.

There it was. A great coliseum… its' stone covered in green moss, clearly the structure was aging. Jeff knew what he was getting into, but he couldn't resist the call of a great battle! He roamed into the arena, stopping at the entrance to view his surroundings. Again. Completely circular and the only way out was an archway on the left side of the arena. He scratched his head wondering if the creators of this land has thought of that beforehand… or if it was just pure coincidence.

It fell from the sky… what could only be described as a hollowed knight… no, something more. It was covered in silver armor and blue cloth. It looked terrifying, but this excited the duelist. The monster was surrounded in a dark aura - whatever shred of sanity it had left was gone. It howled at the sky, a common action by raving lunatics and monsters, and leapt at Jeff. It was a bit unbelievable… Jeff didn't think it was possible for anything resembling a human to jump that high. He dodged with a smart remark.

"Woh there frog-man, we didn't even bow first!"

The duelist smiled as the "duel" continued, the monster brought his sword down upon the spot where Jeff stood, but wasn't fast enough, he went to stab the duelist but only met the steel of a target shield. An orb of darkness barely penetrated its' armor, the dark aura surrounding the being seemed to protect it from attacks. Jeff was going to have to use stronger magic. The beast leapt at him again, yielding the same result as the last attack. Though this time, the dark aura touched Jeff as he dodged, immediately corroding his skin.

"Oh, it hurts so good!"

The duelist laughed, he hadn't felt the sting of dark magic in a while! The beast went to stab the source of this annoyance with its' great sword, but just became more acquainted with its' new friend, target shield, instead. With that opportunity Jeff attacked the same spot of the beasts armor, this time his magic would reach the beasts skin... and it howled. It howled so loud that a shiver was sent down the duelist's spine… but opportunities like this should be taken advantage of. The beast put both hands on his sword and stabbed it into the ground, the dark aura grew larger around it…

The magic in Jeff's dark talisman was tingling, ready to explode. He unleashed a great shadow orb at his target, which obliterated the armor that was left on the beings' chest piece. The duelist leaned over the body of the defeated warrior…

"So, in the end you were consumed by the dark after all…"


	20. Jeff, Chapter 2 - Ciaran

The duelist stood next to a bonfire overlooking a ruined city. Un-ending pits of shadow dotted the city, its' inhabitants twisted into chaotic forms… one would never guess that these… things... had once been human. Shadows devoured the bottom half of the township of Oolacile… a figure approached Jeff from from behind…

"Excuse me… were you the one who slayed the knight Artorias?" Ciaran spoke, trying to hold back a flight of tears...

Jeff turned around, spotting the assassin. He thought for a second… and decided that the best course of action in this case was to lie.

"No, I am a mere traveler. I was just passing by and saw the knight slain here as well."

The assassin eyed the duelist… taking note of the strange talisman he held in his hand…

"What is a traveler doing in this dark land? Obviously you must have some way to defend yourself if you are going to tread through here. May you give me a demonstration?

The smile had already appeared on Jeff's face. The assassin drew her weapons, a gold tracer in her left hand and a silver one in her right, she charged the lunatic who had killed her friend… her love. The duelist delivered a swift kick to the assassin as she drove her silver tracer into his leg. He limped back and howled in pain.

"Ow ow ow ow ow ow ow, so that's how it's going to be?"

The assassin rushed at the duelist again, swinging her gold tracer wildly attempting to cut a major artery, perhaps even his neck. Darkness surrounded the talisman and expanded outward, masking every sense that the assassin trained for millennia to obtain. In the shadows, Jeff devoured a blooming purple moss clump, as he had felt the burn of poison in his new wound. He drank a quick sip of his flask and stood up. Jeff wasn't impaired by his own spell, he readied a powerful dark orb and aimed it at Ciaran.

_Dodge._

Ciaran could sense an attack coming, and dodged to the right as the dark orb swallowed her left hand. A scream of agony was let loose as the shadows cleared. The duelist stood next to the ledge, overlooking The Abyss. He could feel the anger and sorrow that came from Ciaran's cold voice.

"You humans are nothing but trouble, I don't know why he wasted his time on you!"

Jeff looked at the broken entity, he could see tears of sadness exiting her mask.

"This fight is over."

He turned to continue down the steps into the township. Ciaran felt like her heart had been ripped out, she charged at Jeff, screaming. The duelist stepped aside as the assassin tripped off of the ledge, he did not turn around, he continued... he wasn't smiling anymore.


	21. Jeff, Chapter 3 - Gough

The duelist stepped into a courtyard, surrounded by twisted lunatics that were once the residents of the now ruined city of Oolacile. With talisman in hand dark hexes extended in all directions obliterating Jeff's enemies. As he made his way to the next flight of stairs, he could feel a familiar presence.

Marvellous Chester aimed his sniper crossbow at the shadowy figure from a distance, he unleashed his arrow and watched as it was deflected by a small target shield. The mask of the figure stroke Chester as oddly familiar.

"Could that be Jeff!? Jeff the Duelist!?"

The duelist eyed Chester's mask, which looked as it did many years ago, a smiling joker.

"Chester! Get over here so I could introduce you to real darkness!" Jeff said sarcastically as the two met in the center of the court yard, shaking hands.

The two had much catching up to do, but the only thing on Chester's mind was escape from this godforsaken land.

"So, were you dragged here by a giant arm as well?"

Jeff looked at Chester in confusion.

"Well no actually, I woke up in a dark cave in the forest… I don't recall a giant arm."

Chester eyed his ally, now he was lost as well.

"Have you tried using a homeward bone? I believe you may yet escape from this place… I shall await some other legendary hero who would like to slay the thing that lies beneath Oolacile."

The duelist pondered what Chester had just said.

"Ok."

Chester was not surprised by the random response generated by Jeff. But he was a little pissed off, so he gave Jeff a key.

"Take this, it unlocks a door located at the top of the highest tower in Oolacile, just above Artorias' hunting grounds. I think you'll like what you find."

Jeff took the key and with a quick goodbye, Chester vanished. The duelist ventured up the tower and unlocked the door. What he saw completely took him by surprise, and he was truly impressed with Chester's gift. In front of him sat a giant, a stoic man with a hawkeyed helmet. Jeff approached the giant, questions raced through his head as he neared it, how tall are you, what did your mother feed you, do you lift?

"Hello there… Giant. I am Jeff, the duelist. You are the first giant I have seen in my un-life!"

The giant happily introduced himself, "Hello there friend. I am Hawkeye Gough, one of the four knights of the Lord of Sunlight. Would you like a wood carving?"

Jeff burst with happiness, never before had someone else offered him a gift upon their first meeting!

"Of course, thank you!"

The giant gave the duelist a wooden carving with the words "Very Good" ingrained on the front. Jeff tripped over himself in excitement and dropped the carving. _Very Good. _Jeff was dumbstruck, the voice had come out of no where, no. The carving! In his excitement he started smashing other carvings, one by one. _Very good. Thank you. Hello! Help me! I'm sorry. Hello! Very good. Thank you. I'm sorry._

The giant grew annoyed of this quickly. Was it really human nature to destroy the belongings of others for pure entertainment? He stood up, a massive bow in hand… aiming it at the duelist.

_Hello! Help me! Hello! Very good. Thank you._

Jeff was still entertaining himself with the wooden carving as he heard the drawing of a large bowstring. He dodged to the right dropping one of the carvings in the process. _Hello!_

Arrow after arrow released from the bow, all dodged by the agile duelist. The duelist couldn't help but drop another carving… _I'm sorry. _The giant was not having it, he threw his bow to the ground and charged Jeff. Before he could reach him, the duelist retaliated, launching an orb of darkness as Hawkeye Gough's… orbs…

"By the gods! Why would you do something like that!" The giant screamed in pain as the duelist couldn't help but smile and drop another wooden carving. _Very good. _The area corroded with unending pain as Gough rolled around the floor.

From the sky, a black dragon saw his opportunity to destroy the one who had killed so many of his brothers. With a screech he breathed black flame upon the top of the tower, surrounding it in everlasting ember.

_Very good. _


	22. Jeff, Chapter 4 - Insanity

**Hey guys, this chapter wraps up Jeff's story arc, I hope you enjoyed his playful nature! Next I will be writing about Fiora, which will be a five chapter story. Look forward to some character cameos and the finale to the "character" main story arc.**

* * *

Chester stood, back against a cliff. He was grinning as he had turned profit due to another other-worldly traveler, something about some sort of

"Chosen Undead" nonsense. It didn't take him too long to realize that he wasn't alone…

"Oh, Marvelous Chester…"

Chester looked up, but he wish he hadn't. He was face to face with an abomination. A man with familiar black leather armor, his face charred and deformed. He was missing his left arm and viewed Chester with one eye… the other closed or worse, lost. Chester was stunned, he could only croak,

"What in the… Jeff? By the gods! Here, drink some estus!"

The figure stood, staring at him with his eye. Jeff smiled.

"But Chester I tried that already… do you know what I think will work though?"

Chester stood, frozen with fear… he knew what Jeff was going to say next.

"Some good ol'... _humanity." _

Chester was still shocked, he looked at Jeff and pleaded, pleaded for his un-life with all his might…

"Now Jeff, don't do anything rash. We are in this together, remember?"

The smile on Jeff's face disappeared.

"Chester, why are you so scared? Did you know what was going to happen at the top of that tower… is that what this is about? No don't worry about that, it is in _our _nature to betray each other… to kill one another."

Chester still stood, frozen. He had never heard the duelist speak more than a sentence at a time, and it was either always annoying or completely irrelevant to the situation… or both.

"Chester… only a few beings possess the power to travel through time. Why are we here? In this place, I mean. Do the "Gods" have a reason for us to be here… or is it the Brotherhood's doing? If it is… they do not mean to imbalance the world by sending us back here to change history… no that just wouldn't be right. Ask yourself Chester… why are _you_ here… and why am _I _here?"

Jeff was smiling again, he looked into Chester's eyes. Chester fell to his knees, trembling in fear… words managed to escape his mouth.

"The… Brotherhood…"

Jeff eyed him, "The weak are sheep Chester. Food for the wolves who madly run wild around the world, wolves control the world… they make the rules."

Chester watched as the monstrosity approached him, too afraid to do anything. The duelist raised his remaining arm and that is all Chester was able to remember...

_Good night, Marvellous Chester._

Chester awoke, staring into the grin that was his mask. He tried to get up, but his hands were bound behind his back and his legs bound underneath

him. He heard the sound of a waterfall and sat up to observe his surroundings. A valley? Why would he stick me he-

He turned to the sky, a shadow blocking the sun above him. The dragon landed beside the jester, and he squirmed… he screamed. The dragon seemed to roar in unison, it's third eye stared at Chester and began to glow.

From above, the duelist smiled. The sound of a man turning into a hollow because of powerful magic… it was music to his ears. Jeff took a peek over the ledge and noticed the dragon had left. He slid down the ladder and happily ran up to Chester, who was repeating two words. Over and over.

"The… Brotherhood… The… The…"

_Shhhh._

Jeff placed his finger on Chester's lips. "It will all be over soon Chester."

With his one arm, Jeff reached into Chester's bag of pillaged goods. He pulled a humanity sprite out of it, devouring it. His body was restored, he looked down at the broken man and smiled. Chester looked up at him, seeing a man with a caramel skin, black shaved hair and a face from the east.

The man looked back at Chester with his black eyes.

"Brotherhood… The… The…"

Jeff's smile turned into a grin as he turned around and made his way to the ladder. He climbed it as the Black Dragon Kalameet covered the valley in black flame.

_Thanks for the meal… sheep. _

A rift in time awaited the duelist as he reached the top, pulling him in. He did not struggle.


	23. Fiora, Chapter 1 - Glimmer

"Wow Fiora, I've heard rumors that your enemies have bestowed upon you the title of "The Lightning Blade". I hope to the gods that the words will strike fear into those who stand against us. Against order.

The voice of one of Fiora's sentinel companions called out from behind the justicar, she didn't turn around, but answered.

"I don't care what they call me. I'm going to kill every one of them… and when they come back? I'm going to kill them again. Over and over until they are nothing but another hollow roaming the land… a threat to no one.

She turned to her ally, but was met only with darkness. The ground below her disappeared… suddenly she was at the mercy of a darkwraith… his hand was inside of her stomach, and she could feel her life draining from her. She screamed and drew her weapon… awakening near a bonfire. She was on her feet, sweating with tears on her face. _Damnit. _She thought to herself. It was just a dream.

Fiora looked around the room, lit by the bonfire in the center of it. She could hear the sound of metallic footsteps approaching from the outside. The justicar hid behind one of the walls, reaching for her weapon. _Shit! _She thought. She had been disarmed. She waited…

"You don't have to be afraid, I am an ally."

The voice of the woman called out into the room, and Fiora stepped out of hiding.

"Allies don't take each other's weapons."

Fiora observed the knight. She was covered in brass armor and wore a sheathed parrying dagger and an estoc.

"I am the Lady of the Darkling, member of the Darkmoon Blade covenant. You have traveled through time and it is my master's will that you are looked after until he could find magic powerful enough to send you back."

The justicar eyed her new acquaintance… "Where are we?"

The knight smiled behind her helmet. "You are in the city of the gods, you are in Anor Londo!"

Fiora gasped in amazement. The very gods whom she drew her power from were here… in this city. She wanted to thank them, for their power had helped her so many times in the past.

"Where are the gods now? I would like to give them proper thanks for saving my life, and for helping me deliver justice upon murderers and sinners.

The Lady of the Darkling paused, "There is only one God who resides here now, Gwynevere, the princess of sunlight."

* * *

The darkwraith stood in front of a massive hallway, surrounded by dead silver knights and giants covered in armor, wielding pikes. It walked into a room surrounded by pillars. The dark one stood, observing his new opponent. Executioner Smough looked at the creature with disgust. _Why was a creature like this in Anor Londo… at a time like this above all others? _The massive giant, surrounded in golden armor was joined by his ally, Dragonslayer Ornstein. The two eyed their foe, waiting for the first move. But all they received was a shriek… a deafening howl that made even these two champions feel a slight discomfort.

Ornstein charged the darkwraith, dueling him with his spear, but the dark one deflected all of his attacks. Smough came from the rear, bringing his hammer down upon the foe. _Dodge. _The wraith ducked behind Smough, slashing him in the back with his Uchigatana. It was Ornstein's turn to flank, launching a bolt of lightning at the wraith, which was absorbed by its' hand, taking the shape of a dark, spiraling wall. Smough jumped towards the ceiling, as to land on his opponent with all of his wait, but before he could hit the floor and massive fireball collided with his body, sending him flying into a pillar.

Ornstein stood next to his still friend, absorbing his power. But before he could use it for any good use… the darkwraith was gone.


	24. Fiora, Chapter 2 - Light

Fiora stood next to the lady of the darkling, after much conversing the two had learned a lot about one another, in fact they were similar in many ways. The knight turned to Fiora to ask a question,

"Tell me about the Sentinels, why did you join them?"

Fiora pondered for a moment, "Well, the Sentinels protect the innocent. Whenever one of those _monsters _from the Brotherhood of Blood, or any other vile scum seeks to harm another healthy undead, we are there to fight them off. I have slain many undead during my un-life, some even multiple times… I joined because I was weak once… weak and alone. I don't want anyone I protect to feel alone, with their lives in the hands of some maniac."

The knight had a smile on her face… "Well, you and I are the same in that perspective as well. But instead of protecting the innocent, the Blade of the Darkmoon will inflict vengeance for them. We are the Blade of the people and a shield for their faith in the gods. We punish those who seek to sin and wage a war on the Darkwraith's of Kaathe... a vile serpent who would see this world covered in shadow."

The two women sat buy the elevator overlooking the city, sharing other stories and exchanging laughs. Fiora thought that she would take her time, the gods weren't going anywhere.

* * *

The darkwraith stepped off of the circular elevator, slowly making its' way to the golden doors in front of it. It passed the bonfire sitting to its' right. Thoughts began to swell within the dark one, memories of what it had done as a hollow… even as a regular undead. It thought of its' past life, and how it was once a man. A man who murdered to stay alive, feed himself. A monster born in the faraway land of Carim whose life was almost taken from him by a great fire that seemed like it appeared out of no where, and of how the city had banned pyromancy for it. It was ironic that the power he held in his left hand was just that… pyromancy.

He came upon the doors, placing a hand on them. He did not sense any fear on the other side, and the world stopped in complete silence around him. _Nothing_. He pushed against the heavy doors as they screeched against the stone floor, revealing the room of the goddess, Gwynevere. He stared at her, and she stared back at him.

"What art thou doing here, creature from the dark… thou may yet turn back and atone."

The dark one stood in the hallway, the whispering of Kaathe, the dark serpent, in his mind and the vision of another undead... a female, surrounded by a burning Carim. It spoke in a deep, terrifying voice, as if joined by multiple.

"Your brothers and sisters are dead Gwyndolin, and soon you will join them in the Abyss. The age of dark will come, and I will drag your "Chosen Undead" to the kiln of the first flame so that when I drain his humanity, I have a place to leave his hollowed husk."

The darkwraith howled with anger as it lobbed black fire at the "goddess", which evaporated into thin air as the sun said farewell to the city of Anor Londo.

* * *

The women sat in silence, watching the sun set for what would be its' last time. The knight spoke softly, almost in a panic.

"No… this cannot be!"

Fiora turned to the knight, and saw her trembling. "Hey, what's wrong? It's just night is all-"

"The sun doesn't set in Anor Londo! The sun princess has… Gwyndolin!"

_Gwyndolin? _The justicar thought to herself, a puzzled look on her face. She realized that the knight had been withholding information from her… or worse, that she had lied.

"I must… I must leave now! Stay here and await my return."

And with that, the knight had disappeared down the rotating elevator. Fiora stood, watching the knight vanish into the shadow, and then looked into the dark, empty sky above the city.


	25. Fiora, Chapter 3 - Ornstein

The lady of the darkling ran up the stairs of the great chapel in haste, weapons drawn and ready to strike down any foe. The guardians of Anor Londo lay dead all around her, she began to shake as fear and loneliness took over her actions. But she pressed on into the darkness of the cathedral, igniting her weapon in the magic of the darkmoon so she could see the path ahead. As she entered the cathedral, the doors shut behind her. A darkwraith wielding a scythe stood next to the door lever. One with a catalyst eyed the knight from the floor above the closed doors, and she looked straight ahead as a darkwraith wielding a sword slowly walked up to her.

_I've walked into a trap… I'm done for. The other Blades are spread too thin throughout the world, when they get to Anor Londo it will be too late. _The knight clenched her weapons… she wasn't going down without a fight. She turned to the darkwraith with the scythe, striking him immediately before making a dodge to the creatures right… avoiding his cursed weapon. It swung again, this time she caught the scythe with her dagger and stabbed her sword up the wraiths jaw, penetrating through its' skull. A magic arrow pierced her from above, and she turned… expecting to meet the darkwraith wielding the sword, but it was not there. She didn't pay it much mind, but instead looked above the door, looking for the magic user. The darkwraith had seemingly… disappeared. She went to the mechanism that controlled the great doorway.

* * *

As fast as Fiora had seen the doors close, they opened and she rushed in. Fiora was standing in front of the cathedral as the lady of the darkmoon walked out, parrying dagger sheathed but with her estoc drawn.

"By the gods, what happened to you!?"

The knight looked at the justicar, hand over her bleeding shoulder.

"It was a trap, there were three darkwraiths waiting for me inside."

_Darkwraiths. _The word brought a curse to Fiora's mind, remembering that day in the dark forest.

"During the fight, two darkwraiths disappeared, either they had better things to do or we are not alone. Thank the gods that I am still alive."

_Thank the gods indeed… _Fiora ran into the cathedral, the knight was screaming for her to stop. But she ignored her, something was going on… something wasn't right.

* * *

Jeff the duelist stood before Dragonslayer Ornstein, with his companion Solaire of Astora. All of the sudden the sun set on the city, the only source of light in the room seemed to be the lightning surrounding the Dragonslayer, and the bright golden aura surrounding Solaire.

The duelist examined the knight, "I don't know why I'm here, but I've heard of you in the tales of old… I am honored to fight alongside you. Praise the sun."

Solaire looked at the man in black leather armor, taking note of his eastern features. "Praise the sun, friend. Now let us battle the Dragonslayer, for glory!"

Jeff smiled as he formed an orb of shadow in his hand, launching it at the Dragonslayer, but the now colossal Ornstein dodged it with lightning speed, and before anyone knew it his spear was stabbed into the ground right in front of the two warriors.

_If it weren't for the lack of light… I'd be dead. _Thought the duelist as he made a sprint for the nearest pillar. As Ornstein watched the shadow flee, Solaire launched a lightning spear, damaging the foe's leg. The giant turned on him, it would be hard to miss a glowing target. He made to strike the knight, but a deeper fog of darkness surrounded the room. He frantically looked in all directions for the cause of the dark magic, but was only met with orbs of shadow. _Left. _The great spear stabbed to the left. _Right. _Again, it followed. _Behind. _The Dragonslayer's armor was decaying, and he was not amused. He jumped for the ceiling, and crashed down sending lightning in all directions. The darkness had disappeared, revealing a lone figure standing in the middle of the room, a dark aura around its' hand. Ornstein charged his spear, preparing to mimic the lightning spear that had hit him earlier… but the duelist released his magic first. Dragonslayer Ornstein took a knee, exhausted. He used his spear to balance himself.

"You… you match the reports of what killed my brothers and sister, the knights of Gwyn… are you the same man as the one so many years ago?"

Jeff nodded his head and spoke, "The other knights were very strong, as strong as you. I couldn't have asked for better opponents." He thought of Artorias, and then of Ciaran. "But what impressed me most was their courage."

Ornstein looked at Jeff, he took his helmet off and let it hit the ground. "Good… I've been waiting to hear something like that for a while." A smile formed on his face, which was contagious because before Jeff knew it, he had one as well.

"_Argh!"_

The knight of the sun yelled as a sword from an eastern land stabbed through his chest, he vanished… revealing the darkwraith behind him. With the last of his strength, Ornstein rose and barked an order to the duelist, "_Run!" _Jeff hesitated… he had never faced this beast but knew it was responsible for his death in the dark forest. He listened for a moment and heard a set of footsteps in the distance.

* * *

Fiora and the Lady of the Darkling ran up to the stranger, spotting the darkwraith. In unison, the both of them grabbed the man and spoke, "Run, the dragonslayer will handle this!" Fiora turned to the man, "Damnit, can't you run? If we're going to drag you then this is going to be really hard."

Jeff met eyes with Fiora… _she doesn't know who I am. _He realized, he wasn't wearing his mask. He tried to hide a smile, even a laugh as he thought to himself, how much a _mask _makes a difference...

"Where exactly are we going, Darkmoon Blade?"

Fiora had trouble forming her words, as she had been sprinting for a while now.

"Well that thing in their probably has the Lordvessel, and could warp out of here at any moment. I think our best bet is to seek Lord Gwyndolin for advice."

Jeff stopped the two from dragging him down the steps of the cathedral. "_Lord Gwyndolin_ huh? You must be one of his Darkmoon slaves… a pity, really."

The knight looked at him, shocked. "He-... Heretic! How dare you say that about the _last _god in Lordran!"

"Oh please, your gods are as good as dead. And soon, your whole "Age of Fire" that you worked so hard to sustain is going to collapse."

The Darkmoon Blade drew her weapons on the man, estoc at his neck. Fiora stood… she knew the truth. She knew that this man was right… but there was something familiar about how he spoke, like she had met him before… in some other place.

"You have allied yourself with a false god and will now face atonement. I hope that when you awake again next to one of _his _bonfires you will see that this age of Light is worth preserving.

**Fiora didn't believe that this was right… killing a man simply for expressing his beliefs just wasn't right… it wasn't justice. She slowly placed her hand on her rapier, staring into the darkmoon's eyes. She heard the noise of metal collide, and then saw the knight fly backwards, her body was eaten away by the darkness...**


	26. Fiora, Chapter 4 - Blood

The duelist knocked the estoc away from his neck, and kicked the bronze colored knight away from him. He launched darkness into her stomach, decaying her weak armor away. Fiora turned to the duelist, rapier at the ready.

"_You!" _She yelled with anger as the duelist turned to her. "How do you expect me to react in a situation like _that. _The way I see it, that was self defense." A firekeeper soul appeared above the body of the fallen knight… Fiora turned to it, her rapier did not lower. "She was… she was a firekeeper. _Scum! _You have sinned for the last time. I will beg the gods for the power to slay you… and hope that every time I do you grow closer to becoming a hollow."

"_Gods… Power?! _Do you really believe in that nonsense? The power that you use is yours alone to control. It is a direct extension of yourself. How has this cursed place not showed you that already? All of the gods are gone or dead so _who _or _what _do you draw power from? Hm?"

Fiora stared into Jeff's eyes, this time it was _her_ rapier that was at his throat. She looked down at the talisman she had in her left hand. She asked herself… where _does _this power come from? She looked up at the duelist again…

"You…"

Fiora stepped back and sheathed her blade. "I guess… you're right." She tried to be noble about it, but in fact felt defeated, as though a part of her world had just been ripped away and was thrown out of balance. _Alone. _She thought. She was truly _alone _in the world. There was no light at the end of the tunnel, there was no guardian looking over her shoulder… her legs gave out, and for the first time since her death, she cried.

* * *

Ornstein stabbed his spear right into the darkwraith, lifting his body up. He sent a wave of electricity through his great weapon and the figure went limp. Throwing the body to the side, he turned to the main entrance of the cathedral. The dark one stood up, consuming a sprite of humanity. The giant was facing away from him, and with full strength he slashed the legs of his foe to bring him to his knees. With his left hand, he obliterated the dragonslayer, leaving ashes and a pile of golden armor in his wake. He was alone in the cathedral, he could no longer see the warriors standing at the entrance. The darkwraith walked out of the cathedral, heading for the rotating bridge in the center of Anor Londo… to Gwyndolin.

* * *

Fiora sat, staring into the bonfire inside of the very small room. There were paintings on the walls and a small chimney that appeared to not have been used for hundreds of years. Tables and chairs littered the room but looked as if the slight amount of pressure would shatter the things. Jeff entered the room, slowly shutting the door on his way in.

"This place is crawling with darkwraiths, I would be able to take on one or two… but any more than that would be the end of me."

The duelist looked at Fiora, she wasn't emotionally ready for a fight… "Look, I'm sor-"

"No, don't apologize." Fiora was looking into his eyes. "I'm a fool… just like a sheep, being herded on a farm."

_Sheep… _no, Jeff had met sheep before… Fiora was no sheep… yet she wasn't a wolf either, she was something else... "Sheep? I wouldn't go that far." He attempted to crack a smile, but failed and returned to a straight face. "I recently had interaction with a sheep, you are a much better person than he... was. If I would use one word to describe you… I would say that you are a sheep-dog. The sheep-dog is friends with the sheep, but when it needs to…" Jeff pointed at his teeth. "It can defend itself, and its' friends."

Fiora looked at the man, the person who was once her enemy was now entirely different. Was it the lack of a mask? No. Was it because of the situation? Maybe. She remembered how fast Nogal and the pyromancer had befriended this person… was it her? Had _she _changed?

Jeff looked into the fire. "I don't know why we are here… but it's all for naught if we can't find a way out of here."

"Have you ever heard of The Painted World?" The words attacked the man by surprise as he looked at Fiora, expecting further information. "It is a world that houses a powerful magical being. I remember reading about it in an old history book. It may be our chance to get out of this place."

The duelist smiled, "I don't know much about history, but that sounds like a risk I'm willing to take!" Fiora was on her feet, but before she could move Jeff reached his hand out. "Partners?" He stated. She smiled back. "Partners."

* * *

The darkwraith approached the long corridor, facing the enemy he challenged not so long ago. Gwyndolin was an odd creature, snakes extended from under a white dress-like robe that seemed to transform into a feminine man wearing a gold, pointed crown.

"Where is the Lordvessel?" stated the god. The darkwraith just stared at him, his hunger was taking over... he had never tasted a _god _before. Gwyndolin threw poison darts in his direction, but the dark one absorbed them all with his twisted "shield". He charged the god, who started to bombard him with masses of soul arrows. Ducking behind a pillar, he readied his pyromancy. Gwyndolin prepared to launch a massive attack, the darkwraith noticed that the bombardment had ceased, sprinting out from behind the pillar to deliver his attack. Gwyndolin unleashed a great soul orb, and the ball of fire passed by over it. Lava spilled under the god, melting the snakes that were holding him up. Gwyndolin tried to teleport away, but the darkwraith already had his right hand in the god's chest. The being withered away in his hand, his life force sucked dry by the darkwraith. The dark one looked outside of a window to his right… he had devoured a _god._


	27. Fiora, Chapter 5 - Frostbite

_Cold. _That's all Jeff felt as he crossed the long, crumbling wooden bridge leading onto a frightful looking mountain. The duelist followed Fiora across it and up a flight of stairs seemingly carved into the hillside. "Great… who knew that we would be arriving in the middle of a damn snowstorm." He muttered. The justicar turned to him. "Well it could be worse!" Jeff looked at the woman. _She's finally snapped, I'm going to hollow here. _He looked around for any source of rest, respite… warmth! _Warmth! _He ran towards the bonfire in the distance, practically dragging Fiora behind him. She was the first to speak, or rather… yell, as they were not able to hear each other very well.

"We need to plan out a course of action! I expect that the inhabitants of this land aren't going to let us through without a fight!"

_Through what? _He thought to himself. He looked up and saw it, the large walls of a fortress. Blood stains and bodies littered the entire area. _Shit. _He stared at Fiora, wishing he had his mask so he could hide his facial expression. Before he could speak, she made the decision.

"Well… we're not getting any warmer here… the sooner we get through this, the faster our suffering will end."

With a sigh, Jeff and his companion were off. They ascended the first staircase, arriving upon a shut keep door. The both of them continued along the wall, moving to the right of where they had come from. The wind seemed to cease, all noise coming to a halt. The two of them could sense it… they could sense _a lot _of it. _Hollows… _an army of them. Three of the beasts ran down from a staircase leading onto the wall, swords flinging in all directions. The first met darkness and was pushed aside as the other two were introduced to Fiora's rapier. The hollows fell very easily. The two healthy undead continued up the stairs, then they saw them. With only a brief moment to look into the courtyard, which was swarmed by hollows, they were attacked by another set of three swordsmen, but paired with two torch bearing sorcerers with … _things … _attached to the upper halves of their bodys. Fiora dueled the three swordsmen as Jeff launched hexes at the new fire breathing opponents. Slashing through all three, Fiora rushed the torchbearers, stabbing one directly in the "head". It exploded, leaving a poisoned justicar laying on the floor, gasping for air. _Shit…. shit shit shit. _Jeff thought as he disposed of the other torchbearer.

Running up to Fiora, he reached into his pocket and pulled out two items. A purple moss clump, and a blooming purple moss clump. In reality, Jeff didn't really know if Fiora was afflicted with poison, or with toxic… and to him, there really was no difference. He shoved both of them into Fiora's mouth. "Chew." Coughing, she looked up at him, "You didn't have to save my "life", I would have come back in a few minutes you know." The duelist was quick to respond, "I don't think any of us should die for now, something doesn't seem right with space and time and all of that nonsense… it would be better to be cautious." With a nod of understanding, the two continued.

"Why don't we just jump down?" Asked Fiora, looking down into the courtyard at the formation of hollowed phalanx, grouped up in the center of the courtyard. _You know, that's actually a good idea… it would sure save us a lot of trouble. _He thought to himself. And so, they did. They jumped down into the courtyard.

"Let me take care of this…" voiced the duelist, as he prepared a dark hex in his hand. Before the full phalanx formation could react, a bombardment of shadow overtook them. It melted their shields, weapons, and _flesh. _Fiora watched in awe as the destruction took place in front of her. She couldn't help but ask, "Why is it that you use such… _dark _magic?" Jeff turned to the woman with a practiced response, as if he had answered the question many times before. "Well, Miss Lightning Blade, I studied all types of magic when I was young before even attempting to specialize in one. At the time, I knew of only three… pyromancy, miracles, and sorcery." Fiora nodded, as she had heard this lecture before… "But then, in an old journal that I had found while inside of a _church _of all places… I found writings of a fourth type of magic… one much darker."

Fiora stared at the man… "So, you chose hexes because they are stronger than the other three types of magic?" In immediate repost, he was quick to deflect her question. "No actually, not one form of magic is "stronger" than any other. All have their ups and downs. In truth, I chose hexes because I would be able to engage my enemy from the shadows, I'm not brave enough to fight them face to face." The duelist smiled, hoping his semi-sarcastic answer would sate his audience's curiosity. Fiora only nodded, walking forward to the massive circular structure ahead of them. A familiar cold was felt, and not the cold that they were already feeling. No… it was something else.

A great fireball landed in front of the two adventurers, sending them flying backwards as a figure, half clothed in yellow robes, wearing a large yellow turban arose from the shadows. The two couldn't think of anything to describe what the figure looked like… only that it was _weird. _The foe raised his right arm again, spewing fire out of his palm at both of the undead, forcing them to separate and take cover. Fiora awaited for the flames to subside. Lightning surrounding her sword, She charged forward, being stopped by a wall of flame in the process. The duelist lobbed an orb of darkness at the enemy, leaving it to deal with the pain. Fiora lept through the fire as she saw her foe wrecked with agony and delivered him to his death.

They journeyed through the structure and passed a long bridge leading to a smaller arena, the two found little difficulty in getting to their destination. They had run into some half raven, half woman demon's in the building, and an undead dragon on the bridge, but these were dealt with, with relative ease.

Alas, they came upon the crossbreed, Priscilla. Half god, and half dragon, she stared at the two undead, a puzzled look on her pale face. She stood taller than any man Jeff had ever seen, wore the fangs of a wolf and the silver woolen tale of a dragon… but an odd attraction had fallen over the duelist like some sort of… spell. She spoke.

"You two are not from this place… not from this _time. _That is odd, but if you wish it, I may try to send you back to where you belong."

The duelist was quick to respond, "You don't need to send me anywhere, I belong here with you!" Priscilla seemed to ignore the stupid statement, but Fiora didn't. Immediately, she delivered a swift blow to the man's stomach as he flew backwards. "We would appreciate your assistance, and we are willing to pay what ever price it may cost." The crossbreed laughed, "Just keep that _mess _over there away from me, and that will be payment enough." Fiora smiled, "Done."

Dragging Jeff to the ledge that Fiora was instructed to jump off of, Fiora threw the man off of it as he yelled to the heavens… "_I will wait for you!" _His annoying words fading off into the distance. The justicar turned around and met Priscilla's eyes. What the crossbreed said frightened her.

"You are going to need to be strong. Him too… _all _of you. For the other… for the _knight._"

Fiora pondered the words as an invisible force pushed her off the structure, the cold seemed to fade away.

* * *

In a different time, Sir Lance stared into the mesmerizing spell that was a bonfire.


	28. Special

**Hey guys, sorry that I haven't been posting up chapters as frequently as before, the holidays were pretty busy for me. That being said, here's a treat.**

* * *

The self-entitled Master Sorcerer Nogal sat on the opposite side of a table to the "acclaimed" Destroyer of Carim, Victoria. The atmosphere was calm, the two sat in a small room where books lined the walls and a bonfire disguised as a chimney lay in the corner. The room was warm and the only source of light was the fire… and a gigantic golden chandelier lit with magical flame. Victoria decided to break the silence.

"So… how be ye?" she spoke as Nogal's face shrieked at her horrible pirate accent. He never really grew fond of it the first time he met her, and he wasn't about to now. "You know… we're in the Dragon _School_, you can learn how to speak proper here." he said, playing with his hands.

Victoria actually thought about this proposition for a second, she didn't even know how to read… let alone speak like a normal human being. "Ye be correct… but would that parrot of an author even let me do that?" She stated, leaving a shocked Nogal. She did it, she definitely did it. "You're not supposed to just break the fourth wall like that! And don't even lie, you know that your accent is all an _act _anyways. Well good job, spoiler alert everybody Victoria is going to sound like a normal person." He ranted as Victoria lifted her catalyst off the ground. "Well if you're just going to give spoilers like that, I may as well kill you _now _instead of _later_!" She yelled.

Nogal was infuriated, she just spoiled the whole plot of the next story arc! "Are you kidding me!? Now the author is going to have to change the entire plot because you just _had_ to spoil it. Good game, screw it. You're going down." With that he launched a cloud at the chandelier, destroying it and creating a mass of soul arrows from the sky. They rained on the pyromancer, but a wall of fire already blocked their path. Victoria launched a fireball, incinerating the table that divided the two magicians as Nogal dodged the attack. The two constantly launched spell after spell at each other until the entire room was destroyed. A knock at the door interrupted the fight. A voice wrung from the other side.

"Is everything ok in there?" the familiar voice penetrated the magician's minds as they stared at each other and lowered their catalysts. Jeff the duelist walked into the room followed by Sir Lance. Jeff walked up to Nogal to greet him. "Hey buddy, how are you doing? Long time no see! Ready for the big one?" Nogal grimaced as he high fived the duelist and quickly explained. "Well you see, I would be but Miss, likes to light everything on fire, over here just spoiled the entire story to the reader! Now the author has to redo everything he's worked on."

Jeff stared through his mask at Nogal, and then at Victoria. "So… they all know that I go hollow, then?" he asked, as Victoria's eyes widened.

"What!? When did the author plan to make _that _happen to _you_?!" She stated, and before anyone could speak again Sir Lance held his hands up, signaling everyone to stop talking.


	29. War in Lordran, Chapter 1

**Hey everyone I'm really excited to begin the War in Lordran Arc, I think I mentioned in the special that I hadn't been writing due to the holidays, again sorry for that! I want to thank the community for taking the time to read these and I value your input. I'm just going to stop talking now so you can get into it.**

* * *

Sir Lance watched as Kor, the barbarian in his eastern looking armor faded away, disappearing to one of his "meetings" as he had called it. The two had been training fiercely for a long time, Sir Lance of Astora was able to hold his own in a fight against Kor. He had taken it upon himself to master the great Zweihander, a feet that made Kor a proud master. Sir Lance stood from his rest, preparing to wander the land of Drangleic, as he usually did when his teacher left, to fight more foes and search for treasures. He entered the dark forest to test his skills.

* * *

Kor's aura illuminated the room along with those of his brethren. The Knight's stood around a great bell, each with a different armor. All of the knights were from different lands, different times. The knight, Solaire, who had called the meeting was the first to speak. "Brethren, as you know in my timeline the Giants abandoned Anor Londo and crossed the sea to Drangleic. This brought the curse of the undead with them to those land which is why knights like Kor, and the Dragon Knight of Drangleic are present in our order today."

The fellow knights nodded their heads and almost in unison said _aye, _and so Solaire continued. "But there has been an anomaly. Some... _thing _was born in the past that shouldn't have been created, and some _one _has awoken in the future, that should be in the past." The knights in the room looked around and bantered amongst themselves. "It is true, I have met the one from the past. He is called Sir Lance, from the land of Astora… like yourself Solaire." Kor spoke up, over his brethren.

Solaire pondered for a moment. "I know no knight of that name, yet it is not uncommon for a commoner of Astora to begin his call to knighthood when becoming an undead. Why he is in your land, I don't know." after Solaire spoke, the room was rustling with chatter and worry. Solaire raised his hand and told his fellow knights to cease. "I have decided that Kor will take Sir Lance to my time. Here we will defeat this… _darkwraith_… and restore the natural timeline. Every moment that the dark one is in my timeline, is another moment that he grows closer to the Kiln of the First Flame. Praise the Sun!" Every knight in the room disappeared one by one as they echoed "Praise the Sun." back to Solaire. Kor did the same and vanished from the room.

* * *

Sir Lance walked back to the bonfire, before it was common for him to appear by it, as he would get overwhelmed by some massive creature or a large group of undead, but nowadays he would overcome all of those things. He drunk from his magically refilled Estus flask and laid against a rock. Kor soon appeared before him and told him of his meeting, where Sir Lance was, and what was going on. He was shocked, Drangleic, timeline, darkwraith… it all seemed so odd to him. He looked around at the trees surrounding the two and realized that they were not the same ones from his home, Astora. Nodding, Sir Lance stood and approached Kor, as the barbarian pulled out a Sunlight Emblem. "Praise the Sun…" He muttered, taking the other knight by the shoulder as the two vanished in a brilliant light.

* * *

Jeff and Fiora appeared in a room with a bonfire stashed into the wall, disguised as a chimney. It had books lining the walls and a great golden chandelier was held up by the ceiling. The two looked around in awe as Nogal stepped into the room. There was a moment of pause, maybe even denial, and probably a little bit of a lack of caring from one particular person in the room, but Nogal dropped the scrolls he was holding in his hand and ran to greet his two acquaintances.

"Fiora, Duelist!" He exclaimed, shaking both of their hands. "Wow it's been a while hasn't it? That night in the dark forest was quite the exciting one. How did you two end up here in Vinheim?" The two stood in silence for a moment, still taking in the friendly atmosphere and getting used to the familiar face. "We were sent here by powerful dragon magic." stated Fiora, as she helped Nogal place the items he had dropped previously onto the table. Nogal smiled as he spoke. "Well you're not the only one who has seemingly just popped out of no where!"

As Nogal talked, a familiar blonde woman walked into the room, she paused at the entrance and eyed the three. There was a masked man entertaining himself with a book in the corner, Nogal sat at a table talking to seemingly no body, and a hooded woman sat near the bonfire, sipping a cup of tea. "And then I blew up the ladder and watched the darkwraith eat the wench!"Nogal exclaimed as he almost fell out of his chair laughing, Jeff didn't seem to be paying attention and Fiora giggled a little. "Hello everyone." Victoria stated, looking around the room, then at Jeff. "How is it that we are all here, Jeff?" she asked, hoping that he would know the answer.

Jeff was a bit surprised, Victoria didn't sound like a pirate anymore… but he quickly forgot about it and moved on with his life. "Well, how long have you two been here… in Vinheim?" he looked at Nogal, expecting a quick answer, but then realized who he was looking at so he looked at Victoria. "Well, Nogal has been here for three years, and I got here two years ago… I seemingly appeared out of _that _bonfire." Victoria explained, closing the door and taking a seat opposite to Nogal. "Does anyone here know that you are undead?" Jeff asked. Nogal interrupted Victoria before she spoke. "Actually, the School is on lockdown because apparently the "Destroyer of Carim" in on the premises." He looked, then tried to secretly point at Victoria as she smacked him on the head. "Everyone knows that I'm here, but they don't know who I am, or what I am. As for Nogal, he is too "respected" amongst his colleagues that no one seems to care that he is undead." Victoria explained, tucking her now red hand into her pocket.

Jeff took all the information in, he put two and two together and thought of his answer. "The way I see it, time is messed up. It seems like me and Fiora-" … "Fiora and I." Victoria corrected. Jeff sighed…. "Fiora and I have been gone for three years. It is weird how all of us were sent to the past as well, but I have a feeling that it has something to do with the knight in that dark forest, and the darkwraith." The entire room went silent, the four adventurers looked into the bonfire as they remembered what had happened that day. "Boy…" Nogal said. "I sure hope that the old bloke is all right." In reference to Sir Lance.

Fiora stood and inspired her companions. "Well, sitting here isn't going to do anything. We have to go back to this… Lordran… and take that damn _thing_ out. Whatever covenant you were part of before, whatever ties you had, it's broken now. Now it's just us and that _thing._" hope filled the eyes of Nogal and Victoria, but Jeff silently stood. "But even if we kill it… it will just keep coming back, over and over again…" he negatively said as the entire room went silent. "And even if it hollows, it seems to want to accomplish the same objective as it does when it is undead."

Victoria brung out her hand and played with a ball of fire. Fiora and Jeff were amazed that she had used magic from her bare hand. "I don't know how we are going to beat it… but we have to do _something." _she stated. "Indeed, we'll set out soon. But first, show me out to do _that!_" the duelist exclaimed.

* * *

The two knights appeared by a bonfire in a building next to a destroyed Altar of Sunlight. Perched on a rock beside it was the knight, Solaire. "Hello fellow companions, welcome to Lordran. The darkwraith just killed me on the other side of the bridge, he should be ringing-"

Solaire was interrupted by the sound of a bell, nothing but the wind and the moaning of hollows could be heard around the altar. "Well, he is going to the second bell now… you must go down there and make sure he fails. You must buy us time while we gather the Lord's Souls. We already have the Lordvessel." Kor interrupted Solaire. "Who is we?" he stated as Solaire eyed him. "I speak of the Warriors of Sunlight, of course." Solaire said as Sir Lance turned to Kor and pulled him aside. He began writing on a piece of paper, after a few minutes Kor nodded said, "If I am still here, and all of my memory of the past is still in-tact, then that signifies that we will solve this conflict in the end, right?"

Solaire thought for a moment, the intricacies of space and time were complicated indeed. "Well here is an example… what do you know of Carim?" Kor spoke, but questionably, "It was burned downed before even this time... around… three years ago from our current time. Why?" Solaire pondered even more. "Hmmm, what I remember is that Carim is still a strong kingdom. It seems that a specific timeline was created alongside our real timeline, and we are a part of it. Whatever happens in _this _timeline will probably carry over to our timeline… at least that is my guess. Anyways Kor, take Sir Lance to Anor Londo using the bonfire. We will make our first move there. Praise the Sun."

_Praise the Sun. _Kor echoed back, as the two knights vanished into Anor Londo.


	30. War in Lordran, Chapter 2

The group of four appeared next to the bonfire of the Princess of Sunlight. Though Anor Londo was already dark and the illusion of the Princess was no where to be seen. "Since the past versions of Jeff and I are already here, then we are counting on you two to make sure that events go unchanged. We will handle the darkwraith." Fiora said as the group quickly agreed. "Oh and one more thing." Jeff interrupted. "Don't let any of our past selves see you, that would change the timeline and cause more chaos."

Victoria and Nogal sprinted through the darkness, avoiding the now giant Dragonslayer… they couldn't help but feel that besides him, they were not alone in the room. But they made their way to the entrance of the giant cathedral, just in time to see three darkwaiths attacking a knightess in bronze armor. The knightess turned around and Victoria launched a fireball from her hand that incinerated the darkwraith behind the bronze knightess, as Nogal launched a well aimed soul arrow at the darkwraith who was on the balcony, which at the time was trying to aim its' own.

"Ok, according to the plan we are to join the two at the bottom of the cathedral… where Gwyndolin is apparently located." said Victoria as the two ran up a flight of stairs, leading into a tower that housed a giant. The giant seemed to not care or acknowledge their presence at all, it simply hammered away at a small sword. The two ran outside, just in time to see the bronze knightess and Fiora's past self run into the cathedral. They sprinted for the bridge and ran down the stairs until they reached the bottom.

A hand reached out from behind Nogal, pulling him into the corner of the staircase, a perfect hiding spot. He went to scream but the other hand was over his mouth. "Shhh… we will wait here until the darkwraith kills Gwyndolin. It is how things have to be." said the duelist as he released Nogal. And so the four sat under the staircase, waiting for the dark one to come.

* * *

Sir Lance and Kor had simple orders, stand at the elevator atop Anor Londo and kill any darkwraith that tried to enter, or leave the city. It had grown dark and the two stood guard, Kor spoke his mind as Sir Lance listened.

"Solaire will try to convince the Dragonslayer to join our cause, but if he cannot… fight him in one on one combat. Ornstein is a strong opponent." Kor said, turning to Sir Lance who nodded his head. "And if that _thing _finds Solaire and drains his humanity… we will lose."

Sir Lance approached his friend, patting him on the shoulder. Kor couldn't help but smile, until the moment was interrupted by an arrow penetrating Sir Lance's left shoulder. The knight turned to see four darkwraiths approaching the elevator, a fifth prepared another arrow. Sir Lance charge the four wraiths as Kor charge a bolt of lightning and released it, it flew my Sir Lance's head as it struck the archer behind the group. The wraiths charged the lone knight as he brought his Zweihander around in an arc, slicing all four wraiths in half.

Sir Lance took the arrow out of his shoulder and sipped on his estus flask. The wound miraculously closed and he turned to Kor, who had another darkwraith creeping up behind him. Sir Lance pointed in Kor's general direction and without hesitation the barbarian in eastern armor let loose the Wrath of the Gods from himself, sending the darkwraith flying off of the edge of the tower into the city below. Darkwraith after darkwraith came as the two defended the elevator for a very long time.

* * *

As the screams of Gwyndolin could be heard echoing out of the long hallway, the four heroes ran from the staircase to meet their common enemy. The darkwraith stood above what looked like could have been the dead god, but nobody was really sure. It turned to meet the four, something was different about them… they were not the same ones he had seen not so long ago. The four were shivering in fear as the beast spoke.

"Look around you, fools." the wraith said in a deep, ghostly voice. "The gods in this land are either dead or gone, and the Abyss is swallowing Lordran. We all know what happens to this land, so why don't you just leave now?"

"What happens to Lordran is something that happens over time. The Abyss is not meant to be brought upon this land as fast as you are doing so. And plus, where will you lead your armies to after you are done with Lordran… Drangleic?" Jeff said as he charged an orb of darkness from his hand. The darkwraith let out what could only be described as a laugh. "So, you figured it out huh? That's right, I'm from Drangleic. I came to the past in search of power…" the darkwraith held up his hands as black flames erupted from both of them. "_And I found it_…"

The darkwraith blasted dark flame down the great hall as the four magicians ducked behind pillars. After the flames ceased, Fiora popped out with a charged lightning bolt, launching it at dark one. Her attack was followed by a dark orb, a fireball, and a spear of crystallized soul essence. The four attacks hit the darkwraith and knocked him onto his back. He got up and rampantly launched waves of dark fire at the group, slowly moving forward. Spells were flung back and forth as the firefight ensued, dark flames reached from the hallway outwards as a collection of dark, soul, flame, and lightning magic defended the exit onto the staircase.

"It's not working! Whenever he gets too injured, he simply hides and heals himself with Estus or Humanity. What are we going to do?" shouted Nogal as he launched another barrage of arrows down the hall. "You three need to get out of here… take the elevator up, I'll cover you!" shouted Jeff back, as he launched an unavoidable gigantic orb of darkness down the hall. Victoria and Nogal nodded as they ran up the stairs, Fiora staggered for a moment. "If you're going to die… please just… don't let it drain you of your humanity." she whispered. Jeff lifted his mask and winked at Fiora, then placed it back on his face as he covered the area in a dark fog. Fiora ran for the staircase and didn't look back.

* * *

The three magicians rode the elevator upwards and when they came upon the top, saw a spectacular site. Upon bodies and bodies of darkwraiths, two knights were valiantly fighting through the darkness. "Knight!" yelled Nogal as he blasted a darkwraith with a quick bolt of magic. "Long time no see!"

Kor threw a bolt of lightning at another wraith and shouted to Sir Lance. "Are these your allies, Sir Lance?" he stated as Sir Lance pondered for a moment. _Yes… but no at the same time he thought to himself. Well, the enemy of my enemy is my friend to… I guess? _Sir Lance nodded as Kor shook Victoria's hand. After the darkwraiths realized that they weren't going to take on two knights, let alone two knights and three spell flingers, they retreated.

"That was a glorious battle!" exclaimed Kor as he approached Fiora. "But my lady, I highly advise against using weapons like your rapier in combat… stick to using your miracles from afar, let Sir Lance get covered in blood, the savage!" Kor said laughing. Fiora smiled, "Well, my mastery of miracles has grown since I became an undead… maybe you are right and it is time to let go of my weapon-"

The quick celebration and moment of respite was interrupted by the sound of the elevator. The group prepared themselves for what may come up as they backed away. When the elevator reached the top, the darkwraith stepped off, striking fear into the warriors. The darkwraith threw a familiar mask onto the ground and stomped it with his heavy boot. Fiora's legs gave out from underneath her.

Anger had taken over Victoria. "I'll send you straight to Izalith you damned beast!" she yelled as she launched massive flames at her target. She continued her barrage for what seemed like hours and finally ceased when Nogal yelled for her to stop. Tired, she too collapsed onto the floor. Her spells had been ineffective, as the darkwraith stepped out from behind a pillar and launched a chaos fireball at the group. Sir Lance rolled to the left as Kor did the same to the right, leaving the casters exposed. When the smoke cleared there was nothing left of the three.

"Sir Lance, you must find Solai-" Kor was cut off when a blade appeared from the center of his chest. His body dropped to the floor as a darkwraith revealed himself from behind the knight. Sir Lance rushed to his teachers aid, but was subdued by two more darkwraiths appearing behind him. The leader of the darkwraiths approached Kor and flipped his body so he could look him in the eyes, then he slammed his hand into Kor's chest, draining the knight of his humanity.

Sir Lance overpowered the two darkwraiths and let loose his rage with his Zweihander, cleaving both of them. He charged the darkwraith's leader, but the leader stepped aside as the Zweihander was brought down upon the darkwraith who had previously stabbed the barbarian. The darkwraith backed away from Sir Lance as he kneeled over his teacher.

"P-p-pocket…" the hollowing corpse that was Kor whimpered as Sir Lance reached into its' pockets, pulling out a firekeeper's soul. "U-u-use… gift." Kor stuttered with a final breath as his body began to vanish. Sir Lance took the firekeeper's soul and stood, devouring it.

"So, _you _are the chosen one, then?" murmured the darkwraith as he ignited his hand. Sir Lance turned to him, his hands already on his greatsword. "I know that the Lordvessel is placed beneath Firelink Shrine… my agents are moving to gather the Lord's Souls as we speak." The darkwraith said, letting out an evil laugh. "I will end this damned curse and become something more than a human or an undead… I will become a god!"

"_No… you won't" _spoke Sir Lance, with a clear voice as powerful as one held by the gods themselves. The darkwraith was stunned for a second, the flames in his hands faltered as the knight charged him and bellowed out a loud war cry, loud enough to make the darkwraith tremble in his armor. _Fear? _The darkwraith thought as the knight approached him. _No! I am fear, I do not feel fear! _Sir Lance brought his Zweihander crashing down upon his opponent, slicing him in half from head to toe.


	31. War in Lordran, Chapter 3

**Hey everyone, sorry that the chapters are releasing much more slowly now a days. I have a life too! Ok that's a lie, but I do other things besides right, you know? Also the chapters are longer as well.**

* * *

The darkwraith approached Jeff as he launched orbs of darkness from his hands. Most of the orbs that hit the beast were in-effective. It marched towards him slowly as bolt after bolt collided with its' armor. _Shit…. _He thought to himself. _So this is how it's going to end… humanity drained by some insane undead. _The darkwraith was now standing face to face with the duelist, it reached it's arm back, ready to pounce into Jeff's chest and drain him of his precious humanity.

"The knight will stop you. And whatever goal you have in Lordran, the rest of _us _will put a stop to." Jeff whispered as the darkwraith howled in rage, striking forward.

With a quick reaction, a fog of darkness was summoned around the two as Jeff quickly dashed to the side. The darkwraith slammed his fist into the ground as pillars of flame shot up towards the ceiling. The flames quickly devoured the duelist as he smiled behind his mask.

_At least I have my humanity…_

* * *

The knight Solaire rode the elevator up the colossal tower overlooking a city bathed in shadow. The once great Anor Londo had been cleansed of illusion and now reality settled upon the "utopia". The elevator came to a stop as Solaire stepped off. He strode to the bonfire with haste. He spotted Sir Lance sitting by it. "Sir Lance, where is Kor the Barbarian?" he spoke.

"He hollowed… the darkwraith got him." said Sir Lance as Solaire gasped. A silence overtook the two knights as Solaire moved to the bonfire and sat. "Kor was a good friend of mine… and an even better knight." said Solaire as he leaned backwards. "Do you know why he was called 'The Barbarian'?"

Sir Lance looked up at Solaire. "No, I never bothered to ask." he said while a grin appeared on Solaires face behind his helmet. "Well, when I met Kor he in fact _was _a barbarian. Throughout our adventures I taught him how to read, write, and speak like a true knight should. He chose his armor because of his heritage, being from the east and all that." Solaire sighed and continued. "Someone has to take his place in the covenant, you know."

Sir Lance met Solaire's eyes. "What would you have me do?"

* * *

Heat, that's all that the pyromancer could feel as she slowly opened her eyes. She could hear boiling lava and could smell nothing but ash and flame. She could see, but there was no sun... only boiling lava, and lots of it. She rose slowly and stretched. Death was such a common thing for these individuals that it barely phased them anymore. Victoria decided that she would explore the new land, maybe she could learn a thing or two. She followed a path towards a thin bridge, walking past a couple of fanatics with spider eggs piled on top of their backs. She didn't pay any mind to them at all. After walking past a thin bridge and following the side of a cliff, she looked outwards and saw hordes or Taurus Demons standing in the lava down below. She looked forward and caught sight of a massive demon made of lava and fire. She hid behind a rock, but the demon just ignored her. Seeing this, Victoria continued onwards until she came upon a dead end.

In front of her lay dark robes covered in ash. She looked down at her clothes, which were burnt and damaged beyond any repair that she wanted to go through the effort of doing, and took the robes in front of her. She shook off the ash and changed her clothes without any second thought that the colossal fiery demon was looking at her. It roared in anger as she muttered "Oh shit."

Victoria ran down the cliff towards the thin bridge. The demon sent a gigantic wave of flame hurling to her as she casted a spell that would cause her to sweat ferociously. She took the brunt of the attack, knocking her to the floor but causing minimal damage to her. She ran under an archway as the demon jumped at her, clinging to the cliffside. It roared as she screamed but it lost its' grip and fell down a chasm bigger than itself. Victoria wiped her forehead and let out a deep breath. _Damn, that was close! _

* * *

Fioria awoke in a great library, a bonfire trickled beside her as she stood atop a balcony overlooking a garden. In the distance she could see a large crystal cave. She turned back towards the library as a six eyed channeler approached her. It handed her a scroll and turned around to walk the other way. Fiora watched it walk away and opened the scroll.

_Dear reader, I the master-sorcerer Nogal of Vinheim, Slayer of demons, lover of beautiful women, bane of the darkwraith and champion of the Way of the Blue, must inform you that this location is particularly strange. Be careful of what you read in the books, if you choose to read them. Try not to be too loud, or you may disturb certain creatures that may or may not live in that giant crystal cave. Avoid venturing out of the library, you wouldn't want to go to the front portion of the giant hall as there are two very vicious boars there. Also, for some reason the fabric of worlds seems to be very weak in this area… sometimes resulting in wayward travelers arriving at weird times, creating exciting… or deadly… encounters. I've probably already left for Vinheim, found some blonde wench to marry and am happily un-living my un-death by now. Good luck!_

Fiora facepalmed at the sight of the letter, though she respectfully put the scroll down by the bonfire for future travelers. She walked into the library, thinking about the words that her companion left her with. She unsheathed her rapier from her waist, also thinking of what Kor said. It was the perfect opportunity for her to delve into the inner workings of miracles, being in an area where she is able to do so. Maybe it was possible for her to become strong enough to not need a weapon anymore. Fiora chose a corner of the library and started to read…

* * *

As he lay there, thinking about the amount of times he had woken up to just pure darkness around him, Nogal wondered how many times this kind of situation had happened, or how many times it would happen in the future. He stood up, trying to catch his balance, it was hard to stand because it was so dark. He turned around and spotted a bonfire, convenient… right? He tried to look around a little and in the distance he could see lava, providing just a little light for him. He waited a while for his eyes to adjust and felt around the cliff he was on. He rubbed against something very sturdy and dusty, a skull? No it was too big to be a skull… then again giants were a real thing in the world he lived in, so it was not abnormal to him. He continued his way around the cliff and eventually found a ladder, after carrying himself to the top he could see a sparkling light in the distance. A trap? Who cares, it's light! He thought to himself.

Upon getting closer to the light he could see a figure, a breathing figure. Upon closer inspection he could make out a healthy undead, armed but not armored.

"Hello, is anyone there?" whispered Nogal into the darkness. The figure stepped forward into view, a smile onto his face. "Hello friend, there is a fine stash of treasure right down that hole. Take a look!"

Nogal was a little confused, if this person had found treasure down a hole… why didn't he just go get it? Nogal was even more confused when he was falling into the hole after being kicked into it, he let out a quick yell but quickly shut his mouth when he landed on a pile of bones. _Why did this have to happen to me? _Nogal thought to himself. He rose and dusted his robes off. The sorcerer got the idea to cast a soul arrow downwards, creating a quick burst of light. He saw a lantern in the shape of a skull on the floor and ignited it with his magic. Holding the lantern up he could see that he was obviously in a cave, he was surrounded by skeletons, and a bald smiling man kneeled above him on a cliff. He decided to walk down the corridor he was introduced to and came upon a silent priestess.

_Now hold it there Nogal… usually when something like this happens the girl is some sort of demon, or she's out to make your junk feel extra funny the very next day. _The sorcerer thought to himself…

"Excuse me miss… what is a person like you doing down here in a cave like this…?" He stated. She looked up at him with teary eyes, whatever will Nogal had to attempt to fight off her womanly charms was gone and he immediately wanted to help her, even before she spoke. "That lout Patches has me trapped down here… my companions Vince and Nicho have hollowed and now patrol the darkness searching for souls." she said as tears started to stream down her face. Nogal knelt before the priestess and took her hand. "I will liberate your friends and we _will _get out of here… what is your name?"

The priestess wiped her tears away with her white robes. "Rhea, my name is Rhea."

The sorcerer smiled. "Well Rhea, I think we will be able to get out of this just fine… I have my sorcery after all." he boldly stated as he lifted the priestess to her feet. He held the skull lantern up just in time to reveal two hollow clerics running at him. They screamed like mad men as their chainmail raged in the darkness. He dropped the lantern immediately, all light went out in the room. All though he wasn't able to see, he launched spells skillfully out of his hands in the general direction of the two hollows. Some spells traveled further down the hallway, symbolizing that they missed… while others disappeared into the chest of a screaming hollow. Nogal launched a cloud of energy into the air, it burst into what seemed like a rain of soul arrows. "_Take cover!" _He yelled while he covered Rhea with his body, two soul arrows pierced his back as the screaming of the hollows ceased.

"By the Gods, you're hurt!" Rhea screamed as she Nogal leaned against the wall of the cavern. "No, tis but a flesh wound my lady, I'll live." he stated as he reached for his estus flask, taking a quick sip. "Well then, lets go pay homage to our friend upstairs, shall we?" Nogal said with a smile. Rhea blushed and nodded as the sorcerer took her hand and they strolled up the cavern. There were some giant skeletons and other abominations made of bones along the way to Patches, but Nogal made quick work on them with his magic as Rhea stood behind him, watching.

"So… I heard your name is Patches, then?" Nogal yelled at the fully revealed patches, shining his lantern in the lout's general direction. Nogal charged a soul arrow and prepared to launch it at his target.

"Wait… wait, friend! What are you doing? Are you really going to trust some woman that you met a few minutes ago? I mean… I kicked _you _down the pit but I didn't even know _she _existed!" Patches said as he put his spear and shield onto the ground. Nogal thought about the hyena's words for a second… was he doing _that _again? Was Nogal taking the side of a random female because he was attracted to her? It was true, females had always been Nogal's weakness.

"Don't listen to him, he's lying!" Rhea whispered behind the sorcerer. But Nogal put his right hand down, cancelling his spell. "Here's what's going to happen. Patches, you are going to leave your weapons here and I am going to escort you two out of this damned cave and we could settle our differences later." he demanded.

Patches nodded at the sorcerer. "We will have to continue further into the cave, there is no way to go upwards." Patches lied, there was… it was just guarded by an army of giant skeletons that he did not want to deal with un-armed. He would much rather deal with what could lie deeper in the cave ahead.

Rhea nodded her head slowly and doubtfully and the three started down the great cavern, slowly making their way into the darkness.


	32. War in Lordran, Chapter 4

_Silence, focus. Breath… slowly bring the arms up and… _

A shockwave of force exploded outwards from Fiora, wood shattered around her and pages of books flew outwards. The channelers of the library were all watching her, the one who had mastered the Wrath of the Gods in only a few days. Fiora extended her arms in front of her and created a spherical vacuum of air and launched it towards another bookcase, shattering it like it was nothing. Fiora snapped her fingers and all of the channelers in the room launched soul arrows at her, only to have the spells deflected by another wave of force, the spells flew around the room crazily.

*_clap* *clap* clap*_

Fiora could hear the lame noise coming from the bonfire, a sorcerer with an abnormally large hat sat there smiling. "A true master of the arcane arts." he said. Fiora breathed heavily, using all of the spells that she just did was _not_ easy. "But… it seems I got caught in the crossfire, do you know healing magic as well?" the sorcerer said as he revealed his bloody arm. Fiora walked over to him and her hands glowed as bright as the sun. In just moments the man's arm was healed and it could even be argued that it looked better than before. The sorcerer gasped. "I'm Logan, it's nice to meet you… Fiora."

Fiora was not impressed, it was not uncommon for powerful sorcerers to be able to at least glimpse into the minds of others. She took a quick breath as her body glowed with a brilliant aura, Logan frowned. "Well that's no fun… escorting me out like that."

"What do you want sorcerer? I don't have time for games." Fiora coldly said, rising to her feet. Logan quickly followed, almost stumbling over. "I have a proposition for you… Lordran is going through a very weird phase right now, not a lot of us are going to make it to see the future. I could help your friends and you into the Kiln of the First Flame, I only ask that one of you lights the flame so that the curse of the undead could be lifted." he said. Fiora sighed, looking at the sorcerer. "The flame will fade, Lordran is doomed" she spoke as she returned to the library.

Logan looked at the floor, the bonfire, then at the miracle master. "Look time traveler, it doesn't matter to me if this land falls to darkness or not. Only that everyone inside of it survives. I'm not going to sit around and hollow just because some _gods _left us to rot. Besides… who knows where they went… to _your _land perhaps? Hm? Where do you think this evil will strike next?"

Fiora turned to the sorcerer, she was a little interested now. "Lighting the flame will do nothing… but preventing the dark one from absorbing Gwyn's Soul will help Lordran greatly. That is one of our ultimate goals." she said. Logan tilted his head, he pondered.

"So then you will not light the bonfire, and you will prevent the coming of the dark lord?" he asked. Fiora nodded. "Indeed, but I sense that we will need allies to accomplish this task… he grows stronger with each passing moment."

Logan smiled. "So do you… all of you."

* * *

Fiora sat at the bonfire overlooking the garden of the Duke's Archives, Logan sat opposite of her. They had been drawing up plans and strategizing for hours, bickering and arguing about different tactics and approaches. One side of the argument was held by a man desperate to survive and the other was held by a woman who already knew what was going to happen in the end if they succeeded or failed. But they finally came upon an agreement.

"Ok, so I will gather heroes from around Lordran to create an army to fight the rising tide while you and your friends gather the Lord's Souls. Is that right?" Logan said. Fiora nodded. "Correct, I will stay here and retrieve the soul here to power the Lordvessel."

Logan was not satisfied though. "How do you know that your friends will get the other Lord's Souls? You were all separated and they don't know of the plan."

Fiora pondered for a moment, she thought of a foolish sorcerer with red hair and brown robes, hitting on a woman in a bar and getting punched in the face. Then of a hexer in dark leather armor, a mask covering his face, launching himself into the heat of battle, and arising victorious against all odds. Fiora then thought of a pyromancer destroying a forest and cackling maniacally, while she screamed "Fuck you trees!". All this made a smile appear on Fiora's face.

"Trust me, I know they will."

* * *

Solaire was carried via bat demon to the roof of Sen's Fortress, landing onto the floor with a crash as the demon let go of him. He stood and praised the demon's kindness, then walked into the fortress. He made an immediate left upon entering the main citadel, crossed a bridge and came upon a room in an adjacent tower. There were white letters on the floor in the corner of the room. Solaire touched them. _Black Iron Tarkus. _

The giant of a man appeared from that very spot. He was fully armored and he wielded massive weaponry. A great black shield and a hefty greatsword. Tarkus smiled at the sight of his old friend. "Solaire! It has been a while… how is the mission?" he bellowed with his loud, echoing voice.

Solaire frowned behind his helmet. "Not well my friend… It is left to you, Domhnall, and I to bear ourselves." Solaire said as Tarkus began to frown as well. "What happened?" he spoke.

"Domhnall said that the New Londo Ruins were flooded with not only water, but ghosts. His blade could not strike them. Lautrec was slain in Firelink Shrine and hollowed because the darkwraith took the soul of the firekeeper… and Shiva eliminated Quelaag… but took her soul for his own and crafted a blade of Chaos. He is insane." said Solaire.

This made Tarkus pretty mad, and it was made obvious when he slammed his fist into a nearby table, completely destroying it. "_Damnit!" _Tarkus yelled, scaring even Solaire a little. "Where is Domhnall now? Is he safe?" he added. Solaire nodded. "He is, right now he is with a knight named Sir Lance, Sir Lance is an ally helping us gather Souls powerful enough to power the Lordvessel. It is only a matter of time before the way to the Kiln is opened, and when it is we must be prepared." said Solaire as Tarkus nodded, "Indeed, praise the sun friend. With our other allies obtaining the Lord's Souls, what shall we do?"

Solaire looked upon the ramparts of Sen's Fortress. "We wait."

* * *

It is a hard thing to describe, the Abyss, that is. How could one describe nothing? Could they simply say that in essence the Abyss itself is just darkness? But if it is darkness, then how could one see in the Abyss? Are all senses just an illusion within this place of nothingness, or could it possibly just be a state of mind? No one knows the answers to these questions, know one cares for the answers to these questions. The Abyss just is, and it isn't.

And here it was now, that the darkwraith stood before his dark master, Kaathe the Darkstalker. The one who had granted him the power to steal the very life force of his victim. His mentor and his most faithful servant. Kaathe eyed his "master", but in all honesty Kaathe himself didn't know what to make of him.

"Why is it you have summoned me master?" hissed the great serpent, still watching the dark lord. The dark one peered at Kaathe from behind his mask, one would think that the madman was hollow... but he was not. "Just like you are a servant to me, I am a servant to the Abyss, and the Abyss has commanded me."

The darkstalker tilted his head to the side. "And what has the Abyss commanded you to do?"

The darkwraith lowered his head before the serpent, he eyed the nothingness below the two. He looked into the darkness below him for a moment and rose his head up again. "All living beings will bear the curse of the undead. The Abyss will be spread throughout not only Lordran, but to all lands. All things that cannot be cursed will be destroyed… including you."

Before the serpent could react the darkwraith pulled his katana out, slicing the beast through the neck. Blood gushed out of the wound as the neck and head, separated, lay on the floor. But only a moment later, or it may have been an eternity, only the darkwraith remained.


End file.
